Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) CEO Andy Start recently visited BAE Systems’ Glasgow shipyard to witness firsthand the progress on the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigate programme.
Mark Beverstock, Head of Combat Ships Delivery Group, accompanied him.
During the tour, Start and Beverstock observed the ongoing construction of the Type 26 frigates, which are set to become the backbone of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet. The programme is expected to sustain 1,700 jobs at BAE Systems in Scotland and around 2,300 jobs within the broader UK maritime supply chain until 2035.
Andy said: “These exceptional vessels will play a crucial role in the continued protection and prosperity of our nation. It was a pleasure to meet those working hard to deliver this programme and to see the ships in build.” pic.twitter.com/a4hmUkZVbm
— Defence Equipment & Support (@DefenceES) August 27, 2024
In a tweet shared by DE&S, Start was quoted as saying, “These exceptional vessels will play a crucial role in the continued protection and prosperity of our nation. It was a pleasure to meet those working hard to deliver this programme and to see the ships in build.”
His comments reflect the importance of the Type 26 frigates in ensuring the Royal Navy’s operational effectiveness in the coming decades.
The Type 26 frigates are being designed and built with advanced capabilities to meet the evolving challenges of modern warfare.
Once completed, say the builders, these ships will enhance the Royal Navy’s ability to protect the UK’s interests at sea, particularly in anti-submarine warfare and other critical missions.
For more details on the visit and the progress of the Type 26 frigate programme, you can follow updates from Defence Equipment & Support on their Twitter account.
How much better will the T26 frigates be over the T23s? Any drawbacks anticipated?
Nothing onboard to KILL the target as yet, but that fits well with the WOKE MOD we have today.
Ummm don’t make silly statements, it detracts from the discussion…of course the T26 have nothing on board to kill a target..they are not commissioned yet and when they are commissioned they will be well equipped ships….which will have plenty of things to kill other things.
So,”Mate, you’re giving away profile information there” adds to the discussion then ?
Yes it does, helpfully pointing out to a person that they are giving away identifying information that can be used to “profile a person” does help the conversation as it’s a true and accurate statement that is being helpful to another human being on this site… stating a partially build warship has nothing on it that can kill things and that fact fits well into the WOKE MOD does not really build on the discussion…unless there is value in having a discussion on the requirement to arm ships that are building built and have not been commissioned or crewed or… Read more »
OK, so I guess you forget to which comment you replied to a few day ago.
I “noted” it though. Cheers.
What are you talking about, I know exactly what comment I replied to…an individual had indicated his exact profession and qualifications…as you had pointed out his name earlier. I pointed out to him that giving his professional qualifications could lead to profiling…you are aware of what profiling is..it’s where criminals use bits of personal identifiable information to piece together who a person is and use that information for criminal aims…
What a load of tosh you write and clearly know little about Ships and planned fit outs.
And you also said it will have nothing onboard to kill targets….that’s a load of old tosh mate…if you had said “it does not have al light weight torpedo” then that’s a discussion point…read what you said..not what you clearly think you said.
personally I think they should have had a light weight torpedo…but that’s not what you said at all…so don’t write tosh if you don’t want a tosh like answer back….
You need to read up on fact chum as there are currently NO planned ASW weapons onboard as the only way to deliver is by Helo. That is what was meant. Your clearly not a sailor.🙄
You literally have no evidence for that statement and have no idea what ASW weapons it will have on it when it’s commissioned. It will have MK 41 silos which can contain ASW weapons, there are also so interesting developments on 5inch gun deployed weapons so the RN could deploy it with any number of ASW weapon systems when commissioned. Infact you may or not be aware that on the 13 jun the Minister of defence issued a pre procurement notice for a mk41 launched long range Anti-Submarine weapon…first responses from industry by sept 2024…so the RN is clearly planning… Read more »
Fully aware of what may be in development for the main gun system and what have been asked for by the last Gov’s Minister but will they be delivered? Lots of promises but few delivered in the past.
It’s a hard slog in the North Atlantic seeking out those subs for the crews of ships to date. Ship based long range ASW weapons have been on their wish list for decades and discussed many times, but nothing came of it.
We will just have to wait and see.
The more options onboard the more effective the unit.
Personally I think they need to go for all options, long range delivery of a lightweight torpedo via mk41, an organic lightweight torpedo launcher as well as investing in kingfisher for the 5inch gun…obviously the optimal option is always the small ship fight.
The subsurface threat is developing with more lower end threats from autonomous vessels. That means escorts will need a low cost option to manage these threats, so something like kingfisher would work well, with a pattern of depth bombs.
👍
Let’s hope the hulls are designed to last longer than the types 23s, given the longer lengths of time now between orders, and first first steel cut to commissioning.
Significantly bigger and more capable ships originally conceived from the concept of a ‘global combat ship’: 50% greater tonnage, 25% wider beam, smaller crew, 5in main gun, 24 tube Mk41 vls for land attack and anti-ship missiles and 48 Sea Ceptors.
And, eventually, a next gen ASW munition deployed in Mk 41? 🤔🤞
Yes, I think so. The MoD have asked for responses to a request for proposals for an Ikara/ Asroc type weapon compatible with Mk41.
That seems to be high up the burner as a pre procurement notice went out to potential suppliers in July.
With the T23’s being a benchmark for high end ASW Capability it would be reasonable to assume the T26’s will carry on that tradition and even exceed it.The FREMM design is also capable in this area as the Marine Nationale have proved in exercises.
Ridículous númber of escorts , what protectión ? , even Italy or Spain have more.
Irrelevant. The number available and overall escort fleet is what matters.
If we had anything that could go to sea. Fleet in shocking state of available units and yes both mentioned Navies are renewing at a faster rate than the RN. Sorry but the once ruler of the waves have to be there to do so and they simply are not anymore (expensive OPV’s are the only real thing showing the Flag).
Well they cannot cancel these contracts for the 13 Frigates in build or to be built, but given our Type 23 fleet has dwindled due to poor succession, I fear that the current 9 or so Frigates may be seen as the baseline now, and the 13 will be trumpeted as an increase to the fleet and Labours ‘commitment to Defence’, giving it justification to axe the Type32/ batch 2 of the Type 31. Despite the debt in the economy, it would have been plausible to commit to a single additional T26 and a batch of 4 Type 32 or… Read more »
Hold your breath everyone, defence cuts are comming😎
Spying mission for Maria Eagle.