The information regarding plans for the Type 31 frigate comes to light in a speech by Admiral Sir Philip Jones, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, delivered the Lord Mayor of London’s annual Defence and Security lecture.
“Given our long standing defence relationships in the Middle East, it is certain that a Royal Navy task group – centred on a Queen Elizabeth-class carrier – will regularly deploy East of Suez.
And it will be perfectly possible, should we wish, for Type 31 frigates to permanently operate from the Gulf region or from Asia-Pacific in the decades ahead.
These are examples of what we COULD do and not yet policy, and I am never complacent about the challenges we continue to face in recruiting and retaining the very best men and women in a competitive employment market.”
The original planning assumption for the Royal Navy was for thirteen Type 26 Frigates (eight ASW and five GP), replacing the Type 23 frigate fleet like-for-like.
However, it was later announced during the November 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review by then Prime minister David Cameron that only the eight anti-submarine warfare Type 26 frigates would be ordered. The funding for the remaining five general purpose Type 26 frigates is instead to be spent on developing a new class of lighter and more affordable general purpose frigates.
Due to an expected lower cost, the government suggested it may allow an eventual increase in the total number of frigates in the Royal Navy. This general purpose frigate will be designated as the Type 31 frigate.
It is understood that the Type 26 Frigate will primarily support carrier task group operations while the Type 31 is to be deployed for a range of less high-tempo operations.
In July 2016, BAE revealed two general purpose frigate designs to meet the requirement; the Avenger-class and the Cutlass-class, we discussed them here.
The only reason Admiral Sir Philip Jones, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff has said It will be perfectly possible, should we wish, for Type 31 frigates to permanently operate from the Gulf region or from Asia-Pacific in the decades ahead. is that the Type 45 cannot operate in that area, they are all laid up in Portsmouth Harbour for years to come That means that the Queen Elizabeth-class carrier will be protected by River class patrol vessels with no AAW protection from Type 45 only having one 76mm gun and no AEW cover other than bolt on… Read more »
Do try hard to make more of a fool of yourself
there not all laid up by the way. sailors need time off to you no. google is your friend.
for all the silly hype, its worth noting, duncan is running so well not even a light bulb has needed changing yet.
Sorry Colin
You’re wrong there Hms Daring left for
the Gulf last Friday via Gibralter
Yes RN requires more Hulls at sea, The T31 design looks good General Purpose Frigate design for policing role across the globe with power projection being provided by QE Class Carries escorted by T23s then T26s & T45s along with an Astute Class Submarine/s in the battle group.The RN may not be the size it once was but the senior service is still one of the most powerful Navies in the world.
at least 1 t 31 should be based in gibraltar
the yards on the clyde building the type 26 should be told the minimum requirement is TWO SHIPS PER YEAR.
Or do the carribean patrol?.
maybe the new River class are penciled in for that?
what cana river do, that a group of well drilled archers can’t do?
THEY’LL BE PATROLLING THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL
Let’s hope so they seem better suited with the capability to carry a helicopter to help hunt for drug running go fast speedboats.Sure it will have an ops room like her bigger sisters and have the older Rivera patrol our coasts and do the fishery patrol role where helicopters aren’t needed.
What about Gibraltar ?
Yes Gibraltar as well but I would like either a T26 or T26 permanently stationed there ready for deployment with QE class carrier
Sorry, but I think Gib should have a T45 based there. Its one of the most strategic waterways on earth. And it will send one hell of a message to Spain.
They’re air defence destroyers and we only have six of them, Gibraltar is indeed very important but it would be very wasteful to have a T45 locked to Gibraltar just to send a message, they’re designed for the open seas and will be needed even more once our new carriers are active.
the type 22 frigate class were destroyers in all but name and retired far too soon an artisan/aster v.l.s upgrade would have covered the lack of destroyers
That really looks like a VT Shipbuilding design.
So all we need is a battlegroup based in the Gulf and we will have effectively reversed the shambles that was withdrawing East of Suez…
I think we’ll need many more than five GP frigates to keep a presence in the Asia/Pacific theatre. Hopefully we’ll get them
Falkland Islands?
a bit far away if the sh*t hits the fan somewhere else, we should be building more t45’s instead of t26’s maybe, although the t31 may not be able in the role the t26 is earmarked for
The World’s most advanced destroyers are all in Portsmouth this minute due to their well publicised engine problems. RN boats stationed in the gulf… we can’t protect our own shores this minute…..
these well publicised problems are largely over egageratted media rubbish,the f35 should be binned to fund more ships, introduce a fast track system for training establishments to get the best to sea sooner
It would be a better bet,if the type 26 frigate be increased back to 13 plus,another 10 type 31’s,to run along side updated type 23 to extend there life’s and allow for the lack of destroyers to be addressed if funds become available
Fuck imperialism and the cunts on this page that support it.
You’re a cheery man aren’t you?
Not while there are people who consider invading other countries to be “defense”.
Its ‘Defence’ Dickie old son
How about D-day you dumb prick… suppose you were against that as well… fucking hippy
Someones foot should invade your ass!
I bet you voted for Jeremy Corbyn.
i was once told by a prime minister(when i was an official of the prison officers association that the idea of private companies making money from peoples misery after being jailed was abhorrent 2 month later the contract to operate a brand new prison was given to an american supermarket group, vote for corbyn? i’d rather slam my nuts in the fridge door!
You are not exactly a gentleman are you Sir ? Make mum proud and show her what you have written !
this is not a site for fools to abuse others who are simply are putting forth their own views, if you’ve a problem with that you prick, then go elsewhere.
Wow, my comment got knocked back for far less.
Pacific? Australia / New Zealand? I guess with China and North Korea it’s a good sign
Gentlemen,gentlemen…language please…there may be ladies present!! Let’s just be thankful at this moment that we have a navy at all, given the shocking mess that successive governments have tried to make of it. I hope that Michael Fallon ,who seems a good sort to me ,will sort out the existing problems and we can move on. In a fit state the Royal Navy will be a force to be reckoned with for many a year to come.
as long as the weak commie appeasnik corbyn doesn’t get near it.
Hopefully in years to come the Type 45’s will be given extra propulsion, so hopefully they will be better suited for the deployments to the gulf protecting the new carriers. This will take time but i guess they will get there in the end. I would of thought the UK could do with about 30 Destroyers, Frigates and Ocean going patrol vessels in the future, we will see.. fingers crossed..
taking on a few of the american ticondarogas as they retire would make sense, current, designed and used for carrier escort,built for an expected 30 year service length, the only main drawback for me is the crew size of 300
I think the biggest problem is…will we have enough people to man them?
Gulf? Home ported at the new HMS Jufair? How can you discuss the deployment of ships that have not even had their design finalised never mind being close to steel even being cut! Pure speculation…
Do we have enough for our own shores ?
Opvs being built
o.p.v’s should be armed with a main gun as is the thai ship krab(google it).i 30mm oto melara fitted. and the archers should have their 20mm olerekon guns fitted. not fitted for, a squadron of well drilled archers could do anything a river can do
Nathan Lee Hartley
Sod that i thought they would built for when we have our carriers to help protect them 🙂
the new gerald ford carrier carries the popular raytheon rim 116ca combined a/a and ciws system, cheap at£998,000. and should be fitted to our carriers the rivers could have one on the pointy end.
We can have a strong presence around the world but nothing in our own shores, the reason is they are taking care of rich people’s business interests around the world and leaving our country defence less.
We can have a strong presence around the world but nothing in our own shores, the reason is they are taking care of rich people’s business interests around the world and leaving our country defence less.
Cameron the enemy within is gone .
Maybe we will have the chance of a Navy again now .
We give 7 billion to Ireland , 2 more carriers
12 , t45s away each year in aid
Loose a dozen t26 each year in tax evasion.
The money is there , they just don’t want to give it to create g a credible surface fleet
one glance at where the foreign aid budget goes shows why the navy is in the mess its in£300 million to pakistan?!!£200 million to nigeria!the rest defies description.
Well in view of Ms Sturgeon now calling for IndyRef2 on the spurious device of Scotland never voted for Brexit can we now stop bending our knee to her ego and build the Type 26 and Type 31 Frigates in Portsmouth, Tyneside and Merseyside? Shut down Faslane and move it to Cumbria sort of near where we build all our nuclear subs? And when the PoW is flooded up tow her to Belfast for fitting out where she should have been built in the first place (Logistics, logistics). Oh and tell the SNP we will also be basing our new… Read more »
sturgeon is an irrelavent one trick pony from a party going nowhere
The southernmost tip of Gibraltar is protected by a MOSQUE built by Saudi funding and maybe labour. That is not a message we want to send to arrivals in Europe!!!
too true, not enough R.N ships visit the rock as they did, one walk along main street.shows the reduction in pubs e.t.c. which has hit the gibraltar economy hard. a minimum of 1 river, t31, should be permanently based at gibraltar the u.k should GIVE the rock a few of the archers to replace the aged scimitars.currently used by the.n gibraltar squadron.
What about export sales too. I bet if they export this frigate, they can drive the cost down too. I can see many countries looking at buying the Type 31 GP frigate.
few countries are actually expanding their navys more and more business is being done in warship sales between nations. britain has become too techno snobbish, hence the f 35 debacle 72 perfectly good harriers sold for less than the price of 1 f 35b . a disgrace
going onto a diferrent subject, on the topic of ocean, i’d propose going back to the past when the early carriers were built from adapting merchant ships, maybe the removal of the superstructure of a bay class and plonking a full length deck on it.. the specs of the ocean, and the bay class are more similar than many would know about.
Good point Andy
A replacement for Ocean could either be an expensive purpose built LPHD costing circa £600million- 1 billion each or a converted Bay class hull and propulsion for circa £350-400 million- I would go for that option makes a lot of sense for a military asset designed to close in to an enemy shore line and be put into a position of risk.
looking at the specs,size speed, range e.t.c. its easy to look at a bay class picture and imagine a full length deck
OK, So here is some wishful thinking but in reality it should be possible. With two aircraft carriers, six T45s and 8 T26s we could have the following two battlegroups, each of one carrier, two T45s, three T26s and an Astute class, each would have two RFAs for liquid and solid supplies. One battlegroup on deployment with the other in home waters winding down, going into refit then preparing for deployment. This would be the complete battlegroup going into refit at the same time, the DDGs and FFGs of the battlegroup stays in home waters until the carrier is out… Read more »