Initial Operating Capability for the Type 26 Frigate is October 2028 and all ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035.
The information came to light in the following response to a Parliamentary Written Question.
James Cartlidge, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, stated:
“The Initial Operating Capability for the Type 26 Class is forecast to be October 2028. All ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035.
To avoid compromising operational security, the Ministry of Defence does not routinely disclose individual out of service dates or specific delivery or in-service dates for warships to avoid revealing elements of the Fleet’s long-term schedule. However, the Royal Navy continues to ensure that it has sufficient assets available to deliver operational outputs.”
A total of eight will be built on the Clyde as part of the Type 26 Frigate programme and will start being delivered to the Royal Navy from the mid-2020s.
Four more years for Glasgow to enter service. Then some how magically the other 7 will be in operation 7 years after that.no chance.
We need these ships now.
Cardiff is like 16 months behind Glasgow. Trials for the others will be faster and build will be faster for the B2s once the build hall is up.
It is more about shaking down #1.
Once lessons are leaned and incorporated in the builds then I’d expect things to speed up radically.
The four years for Glasgow to enter service does seem a bit much TBH.
It depends if it is IOC or FOC.
First of Class Trials for T45 was 2 years and other than the propulsion system a lot more complex brand new and new to the RN kit is going into the T26. So 2 years plus is my guesstimate and after that get the drumbeat going again.
I suspect there will be 3 other Nations observing this one.
Hmme….hence why I differentiate between IOC and FOC.
It is perfectly possible that Glasgow would be working to T23 levels a lot quicker than 4 years.
But the Gucci stuff might take a lot longer?
According to reports this week the T26 number eight will enter service in the mi 2030’s.
Jim providing First of Class Trials go OK then an annual drumbeat is par for the course, BAe has the track record on the Clyde for doing this. The First is always the slowest as it’s the one you learn how not to do somethings, then the second is a lot quicker. After that they hit the sweet spot on the learning curve, and will also have a nice big dry shed to build them in. So stop whittling 😜 It’s no different to the T45 delivery schedule nor the latter T23 when it was Yarrow😉 And FYI the T45… Read more »
Oops, didn’t we vote for Higher rates of pay or we’ll strike? Yep I guess we did. Do we buy everything from overseas? Yep Didn’t we privatise the ship building industry because it’ll save money? Yep And you wonder why the Chinese can roll out an aircraft carrier in 4 years. The US has the same problem, that’s why they’re digging into their mothballed fleet of rusty old post world war 2 ships to bring them into service. So we British got what we asked for, fair rates of pay, job security and you’ll get one ship built every hmm… Read more »
YES.
Well Jim, you can’t have them now.
Isn’t there any sense of urgency to want to speed things up a bit with the T26s? Hope the T31s are quicker into service and maybe few more can be ordered. Interesting that the T31s have the 4*MK41s as do the Aus T26s. Not sure if the Canadian T26s will have 3 or 4 MK41s plus the 4*6 ExLS CAMM.
In four years the war with Russia will have started. Is the MOD taking that into account?
Maybe you could email them with the date and location the war will start ? 😀
It is fine.
You use the usual technique on the top floor of Main Building. It is tried and tested.
Cover your ears with your hands and sing la la la la etc very loudly.
It has worked faultlessly for decades?
That said I don’t think we have that much to worry about in the naval front as Ukraine have dealt with the Russian navy without any surface combatants at all.
It’s been like shooting Ducks in a Pond !
Where will the Isle of Wight ferry dock when they put the boom across; if we still have one.
Why ? If you think the U.K. public will support the uk going bankrupt to fight Russia then you are taking drugs . Russian isn’t threatening the U.K. and it’s the other way around , the U.K. is like a Jack Russell nipping at Russians heels from behind the yanks coat tails . We the U.K. have nothing to fight Russia with . U.K. would shit it’s pants if it had to engage Russia alone . It’s time you lot pipped down cause no one In the U.K. will tolerate sending U.K. conscripts to fight Russia . Leave the Russians… Read more »
A good job the World is at peace with little to no conflict zones to worry about. So, take your time lads and lassies.
IMHO we have an excellent and well-equipped peacetime navy, air force, and army.
Unfortunately ….
A bit OT, but HMS Diamond has just arrived in GIB for her resupply/maintenance period. Its a lot further away than Duqm. Begs the question why can’t we use our facilities their?
Which in turn raises some potentially serious resupply issues if we do need to send a Carrier to relieve said USCSG in the Red Sea later in the year!
Morning mate… That was a tad unexpected… I think most thought she would go to Duqm but someone did raise a valid point about crew safety, maybe part of the reason ?
Very unexpected, but yes, suspect that there is a operational reason for it.
As I posted to @SB in another thread, there are NATO facilities (eg Souda Bay) much closer and probably just as safe for all involved?
Yes Duqm is about 375 miles from the Yemeni border and Houthi missiles
Would the Houthis strike Oman? This could be partly about local sensitivities. Oman also happen to be Shia like Iran but are good friends of Britain. So maybe we are treading carefully
Someone previously mentioned on UKDJ that Eliat,the Israeli naval port on the Red Se as a good option. Yes and why not Souda Bay as you say or Taranto.
The Houthis are radical Shia Islamists like their friends in Iran
An Israeli port … Really? Seriously? Right now? Talk about handing Iran/Houthi and everyone else who wants it a propaganda win!!!!
It is only propaganda win because you allow it to be.
Nazis made a lot of propaganda wins in WW2…
Duqm and the surrounding area is a dump. No morale boosting there. May be that, at least in part.
I am really surprised by this, it’s over a 7000mikes round trip. I can only think of 2 sensible reasons why they would do this. Oman has decided to get cold feet and said no, or it’s dock workers did. Or They decided that the crew needs proper RnR somewhere that’s much safer. Let’s face it a run ashore is a time to relax, enjoy the local cuisine, soak in the native culture and be true ambassadors for the RN.🥴 Or trying to keep a herd of drunk wild cats safe is difficult in Portsmouth without folks trying to kill… Read more »
Yes it struck me as somewhat odd when I read the X feed.
As you say, its a hoofing long way to go when there are facilities that much closer. There is quite possibly a simple explanation – which somewhat fails me at the moment!
It does make you have to wonder just how good our relations with said friends are in that part of the world when push comes to shove?
For cultural reasons I don’t fully understand, the Arab world must stand behind the Palestinians to the exent of not being seen to support “the other side”. While I’m sure they aren’t stupid and know fully well the Houthi attacks have nothing to do with Israel, now Israel-Palestine has been invoked, there’s a three-line whip.
Possibly HMG didn’t even ask the Omanis.
Good point about Rest and recreation. Gibraltar much more preferable . And much easier to visit family and friends in europe
At least they’re not announcing the date of retirement yet!!
My concern is the T83! If the last T26 is to join the fleet in 2035 that means she would have completed her steel build by 2032/33. Unless there is a follow on build program either T83 or T26 Batch III then the workforce will be laid off and dispersed. That then means a new work force will be needed, trained and brought upto standard for the T83 build. That costs time and money. The first T83 or T26 Batch III needs to start construction in 2031 to keep the work force fully occupied and make use of the second… Read more »
If the commitment to an escort fleet of 24 is real, and a sensible lifespan for the ships is @ 25 years, we need to complete one vessel per year. How hard can it be to plan and fund that?
Other less numerous types- LPD, FSS,,MRSS etc, will be more problematic because there is so little commercial construction that would underpin a yard’s continued availability.
But at least with three dedicated facilities, we should be able to ensure frigate/destroyer and submarine construction avoids any more damaging periods of famine.
Indeed mate, that is very true wrt what follows the T26 build timeline. Of equal concern and happening some 7 years sooner(2027/8ish) is what follows T31 hull 5? Thus far Babcock or the MOD have made no announcements there either. It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility for the UK to jump onto one of the current DDG programmes that are far more advanced in design/spec then our own T83 programme – Italy, USA, SK and Japan are all in various stages of designing new larger surface combatants for their navies. Nothing to stop us buying a suitable design… Read more »
American design is unlikely, too expensive, and certainly not Japanese or SK either. And the Italian design is built around slyver cells which were phasing out of the fleet after T45. Pretty sure it’ll be a new design, and probably BAE.
Im not advocating any particular design, just pointing out that there are options available, which are further along the evolutionary trial than our own. Whatever design we finally choose (yes likely BAE), if you want something with 96+ vls tubes, then current thinking is that you require something in the region of a 10K tonne or larger unit. No matter which design is selected, it will be expensive (agree wrt US option), but with timelines becoming an important factor, then, jumping onto an existing design is one possible solution. It is largely irrelevant what a ship design is built around… Read more »
Got to agree with a lot of that. The Clyde yard could continue after type 26 with a follow-on order for another 2 ships – which would be useful- especially as type 26 unit price has come down from the ridiculous 1.4 billion a copy with batch one to around 850 million a copy for batch 2. Or we could and probably should order the GMF design. Type 83 could be a sister ship to the Italian DDX design- I actually think the Italian design seems very sensible and delivers a heavy weight cruiser with a lot of firepower into… Read more »
Just speculation, but if the UK went with using the base DDX design it could bring the whole T83 program forward 5-10 years?
Spot on. IMHO MOD are actually being rather sensible, they are at the concept stage with the T83 but know new tech may mean radical changes are possible. The Key is T45 PIP and the Sea Viper / CAMM / NSM upgrades. If they all work then they may decide to delay T83 by 4/5 years to allow for the new tech. It’s not as scary as T23 as they can take advantage of the low usage of the T45 hulls (Daring spent 7 years out of service). So if they do I’d expect them to extend a hot production… Read more »
It may seem odd, but I wonder if a second batch of T45s is the answer. Improved to the extent the B1 T45s will have already been: a different main gun and wired for PODs, but substantially the same beasty. As I recall, the Type 45s were already built to Lloyd’s so only minor updates should be needed to bring it up to modern code. Minimal design work, no changes to the supply chain or training, lower risk. The biggest risk is the inevitable requests to tweak that would come flooding in and the inability of MOD to say no.… Read more »
Agree- so keep the type 26 build going- especially as unit price has come down- get 2 more type 26s ordered now and also opt for the GMF design of missile cruiser based on the type 26 hull and get some serious firepower into the RN.
“If the last T26 is to join the fleet in 2035 that means she would have completed her steel build by 2032/33. Unless there is a follow on build program either T83 or T26 Batch III then the workforce will be laid off and dispersed.”
If this is the case, build 2 more T26’s to meet the ‘RoT’, and plus one spare hull.
Just love how late 2028 has become the new ‘mid twenties’.
12 years from being laid down to IOS is pedestrian at best, and there are some really radical techs going into these. So I’d guess Glasgow to finish fitting out, basin trials etc late 2025. Then First of Class Trials, de snagging etc which is going to be longer than usual. And just to complicate things the RCN and RAN will be on everyone’s shoulders (understandably so). After her it looks like they go back to BAe “Bang em out” speed as per T23 and T45 which is 1 per year. What did MOD do ? They must have paid… Read more »
First steel was cut on HMS Birmingham in April last year. I think we’ll get a better idea of the new drumbeat when we see first steel cut on HMS Sheffield. I think somewhere between 15 and 18 months, relying on a faster build to get them all in service by the end of 2035, but I hope you are right and steel is cut annually. Less risky.
I hear Sheffield is running behind due to shortage of Stainless Steel.😉
I find it astonishing that this ship is still 4 years away from entering service – other countries like the US, China, Japan etc could build a brand new ship from scratch within that time.
US has a regular drumbeat of orders to keep shipyards going. And China and Japan have a thriving civilian market.
We have neither of those.
The Chinese naval construction is crazy. They are adding the equivalent to the RN to their fleet every 4 years. Within the next 12 years China will be a very real threat to all its neighbours and possibly will have the ability to shut the USN out of the Western pacific and Asia. Someone in the USNI estimated that China has 10x the shipbuilding capacity of the Western alliance. That is frightening. Every single ship we can bring into service is necessary and adds to the calculations and costs China has to go too to counteract that vessel. So a… Read more »
China is in the process of imploding. And China recognizes this. The danger is the next five to seven years as China sees it’s window of opportunity dwindling. Given the US’s alliances and bases as well as its long-range bomber force, there is no way China can shut the US out of the Western Pacific and Asia.
China imploding?!
China can only implode if they stop believing and there is no sign of that…
Plus t26 incorporates tons on new tech that no one has done before.
Check out the US Gerald ford if you think the US get it so right. It’s easy to build a ship not so easy to put cutting edge tech on it
Only 18 months of fitting out time, of a FREMM, by the French!
In operation between 2025 to 2035. The in port for prop shaft problems from 2028 to 2038.
Soooo slooow
2 more type 26s please and some GMF design based on the the type 26 hull- say 4 of those please HMG.
Time to get serious about defence and RN capabilities.
Another 4 years before the first of the woefully few go into service. Why and how the hell does it take so long to build a warship in today’s world? The ‘first’ was started in 2017, and is expected to be commissioned in 2026. That’s 9 years people! Personally I think 9 years is a ridiculous amount of time. Good job we are not at war eh! Is this why warships cost so much, because the ‘builders’ stretch the time out to keep everyone employed on a long term basis? Yes I know it’s a cynical view, but why else… Read more »
Yes, it’s the fitting out that’s taking longer then usual, then others!
See my comment below.
The type 26 frigate is a good implementation for when its ready for service it will do well.
I’m often amused how our leaders act tough as is we have a credible military! Decades ago this frigates were ordered while decommissioning one frigate after another! With more decommissioning on the way this so called type 26 entering service in 2028 is beyond a joke! Our leaders are traitors or we are fools that are being led into unwanted wars
The Initial Operating Capability for the Type 26 Class is forecast to be October 2028. All ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035.
Not bad. This means, HMS Glasgow will be delivered to RN on late 2026, and move into first-of-class ship trail (which normally takes 2 years). Again, it is only 2 years from now to delivery to RN.
Cardiff will only need one year of trial (because she is NOT first-of-class), so will see IOC on 2029.
The French delivered their FREMM AAW frigate after only 18 months of fitting out, including some basic sea trials! The AAW version of FREMM also required some modifications, as well!
I am sure BAE could do better?
There really ought to be more than just eight.
Moreover, they must be armed with a proper compliment of missiles ~ anti-ship, land attack and anti-submarine as well as anti-air. Hopefully, effective anti-drone lasers will be available by 2028 to accord a proper level of protection, and to limit the need to use expensive Aster or Sea Ceptor missiles to bring down drones.