The UK will need to place additional Type 26 frigate orders after the government confirmed that build slots currently allocated to the Royal Navy are being transferred to Norway, leaving a gap that has not yet been addressed and which will be a consideration of the forthcoming Defence Investment Plan.
The detail emerged in a parliamentary answer from Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard on 22 April, in which he set out the number of Royal Navy frigates ordered across four distinct periods, confirming that 24 were ordered between 1980 and 1997, none between 1997 and 2010, 13 between 2010 and 2024 across both Type 26 and Type 31 programmes, and none since the current government took office on 5 July 2024, adding that of those slots “a number have been ceded as part of the Norwegian deal” and that “the delta is yet to be made up through additional orders, and this will be a consideration of the Defence Investment Plan.”
The transfer was first officially confirmed in February, when Pollard told parliament the UK was “working together with our Norwegian partners” and “assessing options for offering Type 26 build slots currently allocated to the Royal Navy to the Royal Norwegian Navy.” At that point Pollard also confirmed the Royal Navy’s total would not be reduced, stating “the Royal Navy will receive all eight Type 26 ships during the late 2020s and 2030s as planned”, and describing the intended outcome as a combined fleet of “eight British and at least five Norwegian” ships operating jointly in northern Europe where “the only difference between a Royal Navy Type 26 and a Norwegian Type 26 will be the language on the signs.”
The eight-ship commitment has nonetheless come under scrutiny, with Conservative MP Dr Andrew Murrison telling the Commons that “well-placed sources are suggesting that the number of Type 26 hulls on the order book may be reduced or transferred to our Norwegian allies”, and asking Pollard to “confirm that there are no such plans and that we will proceed with a minimum of eight Type 26 frigates, particularly given the increase in Russian submarine activity” discussed earlier that week, to which Pollard replied “I can indeed.”
The commitment was further reaffirmed in a written answer from Al Carns MP in March 2026, who confirmed that “the Type 26 programme will deliver eight anti-submarine warfare frigates for the Royal Navy, which are designed primarily for operations in the North Atlantic and will form a core component of the Atlantic Bastion concept.”
It is worth noting that because Norway is paying for the slots it receives, no money already committed to the Type 26 programme is necessarily lost, and the additional orders needed to get the Royal Navy back to eight ships are expected to be handled through the Defence Investment Plan as spending plans are recalculated, though the practical consequence either way is that the Royal Navy’s later Type 26s are likely to arrive later than originally planned, putting additional pressure on the retirement schedule of the Type 23 frigates they are intended to replace.
There is a broader argument that the flag on individual hulls matters less in the North Atlantic than the total number of capable anti-submarine warfare frigates operating together in that theatre, and the Lunna House Agreement signed in December 2025 is explicitly built around that logic, committing the Royal Navy and Royal Norwegian Navy to operate as a single interchangeable fleet where crews train together, share maintenance and operate virtually identical ships.
From a NATO perspective, a combined force of 13 identical frigates working as one coherent anti-submarine warfare capability across the GIUK gap and Norwegian Sea may represent a more meaningful contribution than eight purely national hulls operating alongside Norwegian ships of a different type, and the agreement has been welcomed by many in defence precisely because it moves beyond the kind of paper interoperability that characterises much of NATO’s surface fleet toward something closer to genuine integration.
The position as it stands is therefore that the Royal Navy’s eight-ship requirement is confirmed and has been stated repeatedly at ministerial level, that at least one hull already in build is expected to be reallocated to Norway to meet the Norwegian requirement for early delivery, and that the additional orders needed to replace those slots and get the UK back to eight have not yet been placed, with the Defence Investment Plan the stated vehicle for resolving that, a document that was originally expected last autumn and for which no publication date has yet been announced.
Just avoid giving the tabloids and Internet commentariat anything to get their teeth into, and confirm that they’ll be replaced. Because, they are being replaced, right?
*Just to avoid anyone going off at me – Pollard has confirmed as recently as last week that eight will be procured. Not sure why the language of ‘consideration’ needs to be used, then.
George is absolutely right to point out the significant change in semantics.
Those slight semantic changes are a very typical drafting trick to disguise
a policy pivot.
In the present defence media frenzy George pointing this out might
actually save the T26 program. Things really are that bad.
There is no point in sugar coating things. There isn’t remotely enough
money. No real uplifts have been given so damaging cuts continue.
So our boys have to serve in ageing rust buckets for longer. Ps is Norway coming to our aid if we have an out of Nato emergency like the Falklands
I’ve noticed George’s writing becoming more overtly critical over the past few weeks. I’d assumed he was holding back in order to retain the closeness to official sources, perhaps that doesn’t matter given that so much of industry has come out for increased spending?
Now that Robertson has broken cover and everyone else had piled in behind him there isn’t any wool left to pull over people’s eyes.
Maybe DIP will be an investment in more wool?
I wouldn’t frame it as criticism to be honest, my job isn’t to be positive or negative about anything, it’s just to accurately report what’s happening. If that comes across as critical, sometimes it’s because the facts are what they are, I don’t get to choose them. We do have a good relationship with official sources and I’d like to think that’s because we report fairly and accurately, including when it reflects badly on them. I think I’d actually be respected less if I didn’t do my job propoerly. Besides, they’re not paying our bills, the readers are. Would you read the site if it was just PR?
If it’s this Type 26 story you’re thinking of though, I’d push back a bit on that one. Every claim in it comes straight from a parliamentary answer or ministerial statement. Slots ceded, replacement orders not placed, Defence Investment Plan with no publication date etc etc, that’s all the government’s own words.
Now that there is official acknowledgment that there will be a third batch of 26’s perhaps we could have an article giving an update on the programme. Such as when Glasgow is expected to start trials, and when ship 3 is going to be rolled out. It will be a good day when we can see a photo of Glasgow anchored at Tail of the Bank, or better yet full out on the measured mile on Arran.
All fair and reasonable. .
About the Edit function, so we can do our “job propoerly” please?
I’m exhausted, I’m leaving that there as evidence that I’m crap at my job.
Better crack on with batch 2 of the type 31 programme, they’ll need bow sonar, towed arrays potentially and a medium gun.
I don’t mind the type 26s going abroad as that has happened before with French and Italian frigates but the UK needs to order replacements pronto.
I would be happy just to see a second batch with the same fit as the first. Costs are well known and there will be commonality of spares and training. I think it is unlikely that Bae can crank up the output rate of 26’s so there will be a gap in service entry given that at least two of the second batch will go to Norway. No doubt the Treasury are rubbing their hands at the prospect of spinning out the spend on that programme but we will still need new hulls, particularly since the last 23’s won’t be operational much longer. And yes the 31 is not optimal for ASW but the gap has to be filled. Once the 26 class is more complete the first 31’s can always be sold, which I think was the intention.
The RN is in no position to accept any delays to the T26 programme. Why can’t they just knock extra ships at the shipyard simultaneously? Why not expand the yard and take on more workers? Surely it is not beyond the British state to get this yard humming.
It does make you wonder if Babcock could be utilized to ease the bottle neck – it would hardly be the first time we have split a class over different yards perhaps?
If RN slots are being given up to Norway that means that the Norwegians will be paying for those ships. As the ships have already been ordered, then surely no new money is required from the DIP as funds had already been budgeted for those ships. The only downside surely will be the timescale in which the latter Type 26s are delivered to the RN. Or am I missing something?
The ‘theory’ goes, because this is a convenient delineation between two T26 batches, the MoD could use this to cut the remaining three frigates.
Purely a way of saving money.
Because Norway is paying for the slots it receives, no money already committed to the Type 26 programme is necessarily lost, and the additional orders needed to get the Royal Navy back to eight ships may require only a reallocation of funds rather than significant new expenditure. The more immediate concern is timing rather than cost.
I belive only batch one ( first 4) have been paid for Iain….
I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest, if the remaining 3 arn’t ordered with this useless government.
Great answer that answers nothing, agrees to nothing and its the stanard MOD press release under this Government of big words and saying a lot about nothing.
RN currently has 6 ASW and 1 GP Type 23 on the books. The 5 T31 replace the 5 GP we had. 8 T26 replace the remainder.
If the T31 don’t get going soon the Rivers, which are doing a sterling job, will start dropping too if we are not careful.
We need BOTH the T26 and T31 to be in service before any more “cups in the cupboard” get broken, so there is no point in splitting the manufacture for one over the other.
I’d rather Norway got 1 or 2 T26 before 2031 if they have trained crews ready to go.
Just build with whatever effectors we have ordered and accelerate the effort. The only hold up is the staged payments from HMG surely?
Not unexpected news.
Remember what this is all about. It’s about providing a robust ASW deterrent against Russia by having a force of 13 identical Type 26 Frigates, operated by two of the closest allies in NATO. There are lots to look forward to.
UKDJ, why do you print this stuff?
It is nonsense, you know it, we know it.
We print it because it’s directly sourced from ministerial parliamentary answers and confirmed by multiple written questions over the past month. The story is straightforward: the government has confirmed in parliament that Type 26 build slots allocated to the Royal Navy are being transferred to Norway, that the delta has not yet been made up through additional orders, and that this will be a consideration of the Defence Investment Plan. That is not speculation or analysis, it is what the minister told parliament. If you have a specific factual objection we are genuinely happy to look at it, but ‘it is nonsense’ without any supporting argument is not something we can engage with constructively, is it?
My supporting argument is that I am now retired and have far too much time to fester over this STUFF.
When I have finished this bottle of splendid white port I will probably not come back with another cutting reposte.
Frankly this talk of “slots ceded” is Treasury double-speak The MOD has a contract for 8. Restructuring the delivery schedule does not change 8 to 6. Therefore there does not need to be any additional order.
What the minister is implying is that 2 ships will be sold by the MOD directly to Norway out of the RN fleet in a government to government deal. That’s not “ceding a slot” that’s flogging off two brand new ships