The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the Royal Navy’s Batch 1 River-class offshore patrol vessels will leave service in 2028.
James MacCleary, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, tabled three of the questions, asking for the proposed out-of-service dates for HMS Tyne, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn, which vessels would take on the roles those ships currently fill, and how the department intended to conduct at-sea training following their retirement.
Stuart Anderson, Conservative MP for South Shropshire, separately asked for the planned timetable for updating Parliament on the outcome of the review of future offshore patrol vessel plans referenced at page 36 of the Defence Investment Plan.
Minister Luke Pollard answered, “The Royal Navy constantly reviews out-of-service dates to achieve maximum availability of its platforms for operational tasking,” he said, adding: “For operational security reasons, the Royal Navy does not release the out-of-service dates of individual platforms. The Class out-of-service date for OPV Batch 1 is 2028.”
On the future of the wider fleet, the minister said: “Following the Defence Investment Plan, which allocates £200 million to Offshore Patrol Vessels, future OPV deployment plans will be reviewed to ensure they remain aligned with Defence priorities.”
The response gives a class-wide date while declining to provide dates for the individual ships named. It does not identify which vessels will absorb the tasks currently carried out by the three ships, nor does it set out a timetable for reporting the review’s conclusions to Parliament. The three Batch 1 vessels entered service in 2003 and have operated principally in UK home waters, carrying out fishery protection and maritime security patrols within the British exclusive economic zone. HMS Severn was decommissioned before being returned to service in 2021, since when she has supported navigation and at-sea training alongside patrol duties, a role that lies behind MacCleary’s question on how such training will be delivered once the class retires.
Five larger Batch 2 River-class ships followed, comprising HMS Forth, Medway, Trent, Tamar and Spey. Those vessels have been forward deployed on long-term overseas commitments, with ships assigned to the South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific, an arrangement that keeps them away from UK waters for extended periods and leaves domestic patrol tasks largely to the older Batch 1 hulls.
This has to be a shoe-in for the Norgie Standard Class with the Archers replaced as well should the Norgies procure a 6th T26, a win win for both countries and mutual defence.
Maybe they expect the Krakens to carry out patrol duties?
Apparently one of the River class OPVs has been shadowing the on station Russian Frigate for weeks.
Seems like a mistake retiring these with the frigate fleet in such a state. Surely they can hold on two more years.
Agreed! The only reason I could see they would let the RB1s go is to free up crew for the T26 and T31. Other than that this seems like a massive self harm to the RN. I would extend them to the early 2030’s when the frigate force will be a lot stronger and we might even have some form of lean crewed OPV replacement from Norway similar to the MCMV they are offering us.
This ship might not have a lot of fire power but it covers a lot of duties!
Wish we had more news about new kit coming ahead of schedule then that might encourage people to indicate we should get rid of stuff like the batch 1. Concern is we are left with nothing.
That said the T26s and T31s will need experienced crews.
Have you see the stories around the Internet of the RAFs apparent requirement for boom A2A refueling for Tempest and CCA? Both will be boom not drouge according to Jane’s.
I think boom allows quicker refueling
I did, yes. Bye bye Air Tanker when it ends, never liked it.
Unique for the British military though, I don’t think we have ever used anything but Hose and Drogue?
No, boom would be a first for us.
I read that the higher transfer rate of boom was preferred given how large Tempest’s fuel tanks will be, and I imagine boom refuelling will be easier to program CCAs for, while it will also allow for A2A refuelling the various US sourced multi-engine aircraft we’ve acquired over the years, C17, Rivet Joint, E7, P8, and potentially F35A if that comes to pass.
I wonder though what they will do about A2A refuelling of Navy CCAs, if the BAE CCA is supposed to fulfill the needs of both RAF and RN. Will they design the one aircraft with both methods (expensive and complex, and probably impossible in a small sized jet), design two variants of CCA (one for each service), or design for boom as the RAF will be larger customer and accept the Navy will be deficient in this regard. I’d imagine the third option…
I think the RAF are going to get the modification to the Voyager.
France’s A330 MRTT use both A2A refueling methods
prediction – MOD will buy the MRTTs at contract end for exorbitant price as usual…
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The hard of thinking response was always to pull back three or four of the globally deployed B2 Rivers, replacing them eventually with T31s (apart from the Falklands guardship and maybe WIG). That means to achieve exactly what we are doing now, we will be using three or four £350m ships in place of £50m ships and reducing frigate/escort availability even further. What a waste! Extending the B1 OPV lives is the cheapest option. Replacing them with something small, Norwegian and ice-hardened would be the best option in my view.
Even building some B3 or new of similar 85-90m length. ICE- Isle of Man have a Thames class opv with/without hangar and can have 40mm, can carry 2×4 ashms, quite punchy and UK design. Why not a few more T31s to spread around North, Med, South, especially if Suez/Red Sea and Persian Gulf Indo Pacific tensions increase further? Don’t want UK Europe north-south-north international trade lanes being made inoperable, threatened or even cut-off by parties enroute.
The gap starts in 2028. A first extra T31 wouldn’t arrive until 2032 at the earliest; more likely 2033/34. You could get half-a-dozen 60m patrol vessels for the price of one T31 and the first could arrive in two to three years. Admittedly not properly blue-water, they would be fine for home waters, European seas and the High North.
Not saying we should have more T31 variants. Just that they aren’t the right vessel to replace the B1s for cost and timing issues.
If the Scottish Government continues to obvouscate until 2028, as per normal, on the replacement of two fishery protection vessels, they could always be donated to Scotland? Lol.
B1’s have plenty of life in them.
They’ll be put up for sale snapped up by an eager buyer
Keep them going. We need more ships so we need to stop scrapping them. Nicer to fight from a ship than by swimming with a knife between you teeth
Pollard’s civil service script writer is the master of the diversionary non answer. We make the error of thinking it’s all about operational efficacy when it’s about getting cost off the “current account.”
Beef their armament up a bit.Chase the Russians round the Channel a bit.Definitely keep them going for 3 more years.
The planned introduction of Atlantic Bastion called for initially crewed vessels to work out wrinkles. Such vessels could also perform many of the roles currently performed by batch 1s but so far I’ve seen no indication of progress.
How many miles do the 2 mothballed Irish navy Roisin class have on the clock?
Why exactly do you think the RN would want them, or that Ireland would sell them.
Just curious. They are roughly the same age as the R1s. Look like decent ships. Pity not to see them working.
It’s not like the RN hasn’t had ships alongside for even longer, but the priority is for the P60’s as they start going through their upgrade cycle from next year. But I can’t see why the RN would want them, from the headache of the non standard mount, to the limits of the design, they wouldn’t really bring anything to the table.
The 76mm would have to come off alright. Received wisdom seems to be that the R2s will likely be brought back to UK waters so it’s academic – we are skint. The P60s would be back to the future…Peacock class?
Hell of a lot better accommodation than the Peacocks (they were absolutely loathed in the NS), but yeah like the Peacocks they wouldn’t really “fit in”, besides with the 60s refit coming, who knows they might see some sea time again.
They are great ships I worked on them when they was built at Appledore shipyard
They’re a product of their time however, with the P60’s being an improved version with more options for integrating new systems.
The B2s will be brought back. The forward deployment of HMS Trent to Gibraltar has basically been abandoned and the deployment of another B2 in the Caribbean is already only intermittent. Spey and Tamar will come back from the Far East where their armament makes them totally inadequate anyway. There is no money for new builds so this is the only solution.
It would be good to keep the R1s going for an extra 5 years, when there should be enough T31s available to free up a couple of R2s for UK home waters. Better stiĺl would be three new River 3 OPVs to maintain the numbers.
But Roy is right, the money available is needed for far more pressing tasks. The RN order book is full and the budget is pressed to its limit, probably well over its limit. We have 13 frigates to pay for, plus 3 FSSS and probably a dozen or more unmanned Proj3ct Bastion sloops and subs, followed by 6 more CCV frigates, 4 amphibious ships and a batch of Norwegian offshore supply vessels in MCMV and possibly OPV roles. That is basically replacing two-thirds of the current fleet, most of it within the next decade. The price to pay will be discarding a few of the minor warships, like River 1 and anything more than 4 MCMVs, plus a second Proteus, which it sounds is off the menu now. Politics is the art of the possible, not the illusory.
And with regard to the bigger picture, getting GCAP into service, along with the extra 37 F35s, Chally 3, Boxer etc., etc, are considerably more important than losing a handful of minor warships.
What makes you think the CCS will be built in the next decade? It took 26 years to get a T26 in the water and more or less 6 to get a type 31 afloat, which lets face it is the bare minimum you can call a warship from an existing design and rather embarrassing. A brand new design that’s a brand new concept that’s never been done before is going to take far longer (and like many similar projects stands a high chance of failure/cancellation).
Anyone remember the type 32/type 9x
The 2026 DIP has sealed up the budget. All this stuff about “we should do this, we should do that” has now been decided. There is no money to replace the B1 Rivers and the only thing likely on the F35 front is 12 F35As. If one reads the DIP that is the outer limit of what will be done. Quite frankly it is why Healey resigned.
Well Healey is in charge of the Treasury now, so he has to put his money where his mouth is.
Labour continuing their reckless vandalism of the Royal Navy.
Labour members and supporters lapping it up too (vile parasites)
Labour? The tories have destroyed the RN in the last decade and a half.
Seems to me labour is intent on reducing the armed forces with no replacements at an alarming rate I’m sure they are being influenced by China
OR alternatively, the long standing issues around manpower, along with the long predicted end state of the 23’s is forcing the issue. As well as the costs of the nuclear investments and the 6th gen fighter…
Given the B2 Rivers have basically been used as Frigates for the best part of a decade I expect as the T31s come on line they’ll replace them and the B2 Rivers will return to cover the B1’s Roles….
Type 31 is, in reality, a replacement for the B2 Rivers, which in turn will replace the B1s. The only glimmer of hope is the statement in the DIP that Mk 41 and NSM will be integrated into Type 31 (“eventually” at least), thereby giving them more of a punch (though presumably still without any ASW capacity).
I disagree. The B2 OPVs are not real warships and are not in a frigate role. They are doing something different: engagement, HADR and constabulary. It’s more like a US coastguard role. In that role, they excel, and are far better than a frigate would be. Cheaper to operate, easier to maintain, more days at sea per annum, and there are countries that can be visited that would not accept a UK warship ideologically, and some harbours in small Pacific countries that couldn’t accept a 140m ship at all. Replace the B2s with T31s to do the same role and you are wasting money and crew to get an inferior ship for the job.
The reality is that whatever the UK deploys east of Suez is only going to be a peacetime “show the flag” deployment. The RN simply does not have the depth to be a serious force east of Suez. Even T31 with mk 41 and NSM has no ASW capability and without support from assets that do (which there would be none East of Suez) it has limited value on it’s own. The B2s of course have practically no value in any shooting war of any kind at all. So this all points to the reality of a total retrenchment to North Atlantic waters where the RN is hard pressed enough as it is.
The Defence Equipment Sales Authority has been offering these for years, has a nice video showing them off. There were reports in March that Uruguay was interested, offering $20 million (i.e. about £5 m each). Given the MODs desperate need for cash to pay for DIP, I wouldn’t be surprised if a deal was quietly done. Maybe one ship transferred this year, another in 2027, and the last in 2028? The MOD has long wanted completely rid of EEZ patrol and fishery protection duties, a unilateral ending of the task may be imminent!