The Ministry of Defence has said the Royal Navy is carefully managing the transition from its ageing Type 23 Duke-class frigates to the new generation of Type 26 and Type 31 warships.
The clarification follows questions in Parliament about whether the joint Type 26 programme could affect the out-of-service dates for the Royal Navy’s existing fleet.
Responding to a written question from Helen Maguire, Liberal Democrat MP for Epsom and Ewell, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said “the Ministry of Defence welcomes Norway’s defence procurement deal which will see a fleet of Type 26 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates operate jointly by Britain and Norway in Northern Europe, significantly strengthening NATO’s northern flank.”
He added that “the Royal Navy is carefully managing the transition from Type 23 to Type 26 and Type 31 frigates, with the Duke Class Type 23s currently due to exit service in 2035.” Pollard confirmed that the Navy “continuously reviews out of service dates to achieve maximum availability of its platforms and ensure that it can meet its operational commitments.”
The Type 26 frigate, built by BAE Systems at Govan and Scotstoun on the River Clyde, will replace the Royal Navy’s current anti-submarine warfare fleet. It is designed for operations in contested environments, featuring advanced quieting technologies, the Sea Ceptor missile system, a 5-inch Mk 45 gun, and facilities to host uncrewed systems and a Merlin or Wildcat helicopter.
The first ship, HMS Glasgow, is undergoing fitting out, while HMS Cardiff and HMS Belfast are under construction.
The planned Norwegian order of five represents a growing trend among NATO members toward shared design and production of advanced maritime platforms. For the UK, it reinforces the role of the Type 26 as a common anti-submarine warfare asset across the alliance, strengthening joint operations in the strategically vital North Atlantic.
According to the Ministry of Defence, maintaining a balanced frigate force during the transition remains a top priority.
Stupid questions being asked by stupid people at least a decade late.
We are lucky If we can get 3 Frigates to Sea now. (16 were deemed the minimum requirement when ordered).
I wish I could work in the upper levels of MoD procurement where nothing ever seems to be a problem and you can take as long as you need to get a job done or sometimes not even bother finishing.
It seems like a very relaxing work environment.
I just can’t understand how the top brass keep screaming at us that we are in a state of war and that we need to gut health spending and jack up taxes yet they take longer to finish a frigate than all of World War I and II took to fight and we are still two years away from the first being handed over.
Boom.
Exactly.
We should call for a meeting.
I suggest we use HMS Daring as the venue, shouldn’t take too many £Billions to sort the Accomodation.
Just have to check we have the tea and biscuits as set forth in the protocols.
No doubt we will have to make sure we have the proper jacket and hat for the occasion.
It’s the dress code that makes the UK armed forces what it is don’t you know.
Not its Anti Submarine Warfare capability.
“carefully managing”. In other words business as usual. Slow, disorganised and fitted for but….
The time has already come to admit defeat on Richmond sight unseen and put all resources on getting Kent fixed up as soon as possible. There’s no point in spending tens of millions before deciding Richmond can’t be fixed, even though it’s had the PGMU upgrade. Having Kent worked up and operational from next year when Portland goes in for a refit is the most critical short term aspect of keeping the highest number of ASW frigates available. In the highly unlikely event it turned out that Richmond could be refit, delaying it by a year would mean little, because it wouldn’t be operational for three years starting Q1 next year, by which time the Navy will be struggling to onboard Type 26s and Type 31s. Instead plan to storob it blind from the start, maybe recyle the new engines into Portland, and forgo the tuppence-hapenny we could get from Chile if we sold it to them semi-fixed up.
This frigate shit show hasn’t been well managed so far or Somerset wouldn’t have been the NSM lead, nor would Lancaster have been the lead on Peregrine. And someone might have been able to satisfactorily explain Argyll. Fingers crossed they do better in the future.
Total bollocks, the time for careful management has passed, this is a crisis of our own making.
We really need to have some things that are decided/ funded cross party to ensure continuation of the acceptable minimum.
The stated minim7m escort fleet is 19 vessels. I would be surprised if we have 10 available.