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BRITAIN'S FUTURE FRIGATE TYPE 26 & 27
Type 26 concept
Britains Future Surface Combatant program is slated to replace the existing fleet of Type 22 Broadsword Class and Type 23 Duke Class frigates with 2 new ship classes. Outside attention often focuses on big-ticket ships like aircraft carriers, submarines, and advanced destroyers but the frigate is the real backbone of most modern navies.
Lord Nelson loved his HMS Victory and her fellow first-rate ships of the line, but he asked the admiralty for more cruisers because he knew their versatile value as the eyes of the fleet. Modern multi-role frigates that can engage threats on the water, under water, and in the air fill that same role today, protecting other navy ships or undertaking independent action away from their task group. The Type 26 multi-role frigate will have to fill that niche but first, its requirements and design must be defined
Britains Future Surface Combatants
Contracts & Key Events [updated]
Britains Future Surface Combatants
Type 23 frigate:
HMS Northumberland
Of Britains 30 frigates built 14 Type 22s and 16 Type 23s 17 (4 Type 22s, 13 Type 23s) still serve in the Royal Navy, and some of the Type 23s have received modern refits to keep them going a bit longer. All remain outclassed by more modern designs. Another 10 frigates of these types have been sold abroad to Brazil, Chile, and Romania, and 3 Type 22s have been deliberately scrapped or sunk.
Type 26 frigates are actually the 1st of 2 classes of ships to be built under the Royal Navys Future Surface Combatant program, also known as Global Combat Ships. The first ships of the Type 26 class are due to enter service in the early 2020s, and by the 2030s around half of front line Royal Navy personnel are expected to operate on a either a Type 26 or the 2nd FSC variant.
At present, there is no real design or equipment set for the Type 26, though DESi 2009 did feature some initial models that included an aft mission bay for swappable payloads. Key design criteria include multi-role versatility, flexibility in adapting to future needs, affordability in both construction and through-life support costs, and exportability. In reality, these requirements represent a set of key trade-offs. Some can be complementary, such as cost and exportability. Other pairings usually come at each others expense, such as the desire for high-end multi-role capability within a small ship footprint, versus the desire to keep initial purchase costs low. Initial reports indicate an imagined cost of about GBP 400 million per ship, but the Royal Navy is no better than the American Navy at shipbuilding cost estimates.
The forthcoming Assessment Phase is designed to make many of these trade-offs, and the program is timed so it can take the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review into account.
Both British FSC variants will also be developed with an eye to export orders, in hopes of to spreading development costs over more vessels, getting more benefit from the manufacturing learning curve, reducing costs per ship thanks to volume orders, and sustaining the UKs naval shipbuilding industry. So far, countries that have expressed some level of interest have included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Turkey.
Talks do not a deal make, however, and Britain will have a formidable set of established competitors to contend with.
While the Americans have more or less abandoned this field, the Franco-Italian FREMM program offers a fully modern design, using the same MBDA PAAMS air defense missiles and DCNS SYLVER vertical launch systems as Britains Type 45 air-defense destroyers. Meanwhile, variants of Frances Lafayette Class stealth frigate design remain popular around the world.
The German-Dutch F124 air defense frigates offer stealth and advanced air defense via active array radars, while using the ubiquitous American Mk.41 vertical launch system for their missiles. Lower down the scale, ThyssenKrupp Marines globally popular MEKO Class family of ships provides a budget alternative. So does Scheldes modular Sigma Class, which can be built as anything from an Offshore Patrol Vessel to a full-size frigate.
Beyond the standard competitors, and countries like Russia with their own set of naval clients, China has recently begun exporting frigates. They will soon be joined by South Koreas very capable naval shipbuilding industry, which has demonstrated success in fielding modern domestic warships, and has a very strong commercial shipbuilding base to draw from.
Contracts & Key Events
Feb 6/11: MercoPress refers to Brazilian and British media reports that a GBP 2.9 billion deal (about 7.85 billion Reals, or $4.68 billion) may be about to buy 6 Offshore Patrol Vessels at GBP 60-80 million each, and 5-6 Type 26 at GB 300-400 million each. While the new Rousseff administration is reviewing both the F-X2 fighter purchase and naval plans, the paper cites Brazils growing deepwater oil production as a compelling driver for the Marinha do Brazil. The report adds that:
The articles mention that according to the agreement with BAE Systems and following on Brazilian policy of technology transfer the first patrol and frigate units would be built in the UK and the rest in Brazilian yards . Developed countries are most aware of defence dynamics in Brazil since the countrys long term policy is to increase defence expenditure from the current 1.5% of GDP to 2% of GDP by 2030. Since the countrys economy is forecasted to grow a sustained 5% in the coming decades, defence investments will also expand strongly. With a nominal Brazilian GDP of 1.57 trillion US dollars, IMF figures if defence expenditure was now 2.2% of GDP, it would represent 34 billion USD.
See also UPI.
Jan 31/11: U.K. Defence Minister Gerald Howarth responds to Parliamentary questions by saying:
I am delighted to say that we are in close discussion with the Canadians [regarding the Type 26]. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just returned from an extremely profitable visit to Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. All those countries have expressed interest in joining the United Kingdom in a collaborative programme that would have the benefit of bringing together not only members of the Commonwealth but some of our key allies, while also driving down costs for the Royal Navy.
Both Canada and Australia have plans for a future frigate competition in their 20-year defense procurement strategies, and BAE can expect strong competition on both fronts. Canada may be a better bet than Australia, where Spains Navantia has established a very strong foothold with its current Hobart Class destroyer and Canberra Class LHD programs. UK Hansard transcripts | Defense News.
Nov 29/10: Rumors surface that the UK government is looking to sharply slash target costs for the Type 26 frigates, from GBP 500 million to GBP 250-350 million ($400 550 million), in order to field a large enough Royal Navy fleet.
If the project is properly managed, and British shipyards can be cost-competitive, global precedents suggest that this is still enough to field a capable multi-role frigate. The question is what capabilities get removed, or become options that the frigates are fitted for, but not with. The latter approach has been popular in Britain, but it has resulted in expensive ships that lack key capabilities such as the lack of anti-ship missiles on the Navys billion-pound Type 45 destroyers. The Scotsman | Reuters
Oct 26/10: BAE Systems submits a detailed proposal to the Brazilian Navy for an 11-ship fleet renewal package that include Type 26 frigates, but goes beyond. They are certain to face competition from shipbuilders like Frances DCNS (FREMM/ Gowind), and possibly other competitors like Spains Navantia (F100), Royal Dutch Schelde (Sigma), and even South Koreas Daewoo.
In addition to having Brazil join the Global Combat Ship (Type 26/27) program at the design stage, BAEs proposal would supply a modified Wave Class fleet tanker and a variant of BAEs River Class Ocean Patrol Vessel thats similar to ships being built under technology transfer in Thailand. All ships would be built in Brazil, and BAE Systems Surface Ships division Managing Director, Alan Johnston says that:
We are in discussions regarding the naval proposal with a number of potential industry partners in Brazil, including shipyards and combat systems developers . and will provide further details in due course.
See: BAE Systems | Southern Daily Echo.
Sept 14/10: Britain and Brazil sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement, which includes an assured warship procurement package of BAE Systems Type 26/GCS frigates and its 90m blue-water Ocean Patrol Vessels. If Brazil joins early, they can even influence the Type 26/27s design. BAE Systems Managing Director for the West, Dean McCumiskey:
This [package] is based on proven and versatile ship designs and includes an invitation to become an international partner in our new Global Combat Ship programme. If BAE Systems is selected to support Brazils ambitious naval re-equipment programme, the ships we develop will be built at a partner shipyard in Brazil, with maximum content sourced from the wider Brazilian industry.
The opportunity to provide maintenance etc. for the ships 20-30 year lifespan might be even more significant than the order itself. BAE can expect competition from DCNS FREMM frigates first and foremost, as well as other contenders like the Dutch Sigma family, Koreas shipbuilders, et. al. The fact that all of Brazils current frigates are British designs (6 Niteroi Class, 3 Type 22) may work in BAEs favor. UK MoD | BAE Systems | Andover Advertiser | Financial Times |Reuters.
March 25/10: The UK Ministry of Defence signs a 4-year, GBP 127 million contract with BAE Systems, to conduct the Type 26s Assessment Phase. A team led by BAE Systems Surface Ships, working with the MOD, will consider requirements and design proposals for the new multi-role frigates. An 80 strong joint MOD and BAE Systems team has already been established out of Bristol and this will rise to 300 over the next 4 years.
Britains First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope:
These programme announcements are welcome news for the Royal Navy. You simply cannot have an effective Navy without capable frigates, and the Type 26 combat ship will form the future backbone of the Royal Navys surface combatant force, alongside the new Type 45 destroyers. These ships will be highly versatile, able to operate across the full spectrum of operations, from war-fighting to disaster relief.
Type 26 concept
Britains Future Surface Combatant program is slated to replace the existing fleet of Type 22 Broadsword Class and Type 23 Duke Class frigates with 2 new ship classes. Outside attention often focuses on big-ticket ships like aircraft carriers, submarines, and advanced destroyers but the frigate is the real backbone of most modern navies.
Lord Nelson loved his HMS Victory and her fellow first-rate ships of the line, but he asked the admiralty for more cruisers because he knew their versatile value as the eyes of the fleet. Modern multi-role frigates that can engage threats on the water, under water, and in the air fill that same role today, protecting other navy ships or undertaking independent action away from their task group. The Type 26 multi-role frigate will have to fill that niche but first, its requirements and design must be defined
Britains Future Surface Combatants
Contracts & Key Events [updated]
Britains Future Surface Combatants
Type 23 frigate:
HMS Northumberland
Of Britains 30 frigates built 14 Type 22s and 16 Type 23s 17 (4 Type 22s, 13 Type 23s) still serve in the Royal Navy, and some of the Type 23s have received modern refits to keep them going a bit longer. All remain outclassed by more modern designs. Another 10 frigates of these types have been sold abroad to Brazil, Chile, and Romania, and 3 Type 22s have been deliberately scrapped or sunk.
Type 26 frigates are actually the 1st of 2 classes of ships to be built under the Royal Navys Future Surface Combatant program, also known as Global Combat Ships. The first ships of the Type 26 class are due to enter service in the early 2020s, and by the 2030s around half of front line Royal Navy personnel are expected to operate on a either a Type 26 or the 2nd FSC variant.
At present, there is no real design or equipment set for the Type 26, though DESi 2009 did feature some initial models that included an aft mission bay for swappable payloads. Key design criteria include multi-role versatility, flexibility in adapting to future needs, affordability in both construction and through-life support costs, and exportability. In reality, these requirements represent a set of key trade-offs. Some can be complementary, such as cost and exportability. Other pairings usually come at each others expense, such as the desire for high-end multi-role capability within a small ship footprint, versus the desire to keep initial purchase costs low. Initial reports indicate an imagined cost of about GBP 400 million per ship, but the Royal Navy is no better than the American Navy at shipbuilding cost estimates.
The forthcoming Assessment Phase is designed to make many of these trade-offs, and the program is timed so it can take the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review into account.
Both British FSC variants will also be developed with an eye to export orders, in hopes of to spreading development costs over more vessels, getting more benefit from the manufacturing learning curve, reducing costs per ship thanks to volume orders, and sustaining the UKs naval shipbuilding industry. So far, countries that have expressed some level of interest have included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Turkey.
Talks do not a deal make, however, and Britain will have a formidable set of established competitors to contend with.
While the Americans have more or less abandoned this field, the Franco-Italian FREMM program offers a fully modern design, using the same MBDA PAAMS air defense missiles and DCNS SYLVER vertical launch systems as Britains Type 45 air-defense destroyers. Meanwhile, variants of Frances Lafayette Class stealth frigate design remain popular around the world.
The German-Dutch F124 air defense frigates offer stealth and advanced air defense via active array radars, while using the ubiquitous American Mk.41 vertical launch system for their missiles. Lower down the scale, ThyssenKrupp Marines globally popular MEKO Class family of ships provides a budget alternative. So does Scheldes modular Sigma Class, which can be built as anything from an Offshore Patrol Vessel to a full-size frigate.
Beyond the standard competitors, and countries like Russia with their own set of naval clients, China has recently begun exporting frigates. They will soon be joined by South Koreas very capable naval shipbuilding industry, which has demonstrated success in fielding modern domestic warships, and has a very strong commercial shipbuilding base to draw from.
Contracts & Key Events
Feb 6/11: MercoPress refers to Brazilian and British media reports that a GBP 2.9 billion deal (about 7.85 billion Reals, or $4.68 billion) may be about to buy 6 Offshore Patrol Vessels at GBP 60-80 million each, and 5-6 Type 26 at GB 300-400 million each. While the new Rousseff administration is reviewing both the F-X2 fighter purchase and naval plans, the paper cites Brazils growing deepwater oil production as a compelling driver for the Marinha do Brazil. The report adds that:
The articles mention that according to the agreement with BAE Systems and following on Brazilian policy of technology transfer the first patrol and frigate units would be built in the UK and the rest in Brazilian yards . Developed countries are most aware of defence dynamics in Brazil since the countrys long term policy is to increase defence expenditure from the current 1.5% of GDP to 2% of GDP by 2030. Since the countrys economy is forecasted to grow a sustained 5% in the coming decades, defence investments will also expand strongly. With a nominal Brazilian GDP of 1.57 trillion US dollars, IMF figures if defence expenditure was now 2.2% of GDP, it would represent 34 billion USD.
See also UPI.
Jan 31/11: U.K. Defence Minister Gerald Howarth responds to Parliamentary questions by saying:
I am delighted to say that we are in close discussion with the Canadians [regarding the Type 26]. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has just returned from an extremely profitable visit to Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. All those countries have expressed interest in joining the United Kingdom in a collaborative programme that would have the benefit of bringing together not only members of the Commonwealth but some of our key allies, while also driving down costs for the Royal Navy.
Both Canada and Australia have plans for a future frigate competition in their 20-year defense procurement strategies, and BAE can expect strong competition on both fronts. Canada may be a better bet than Australia, where Spains Navantia has established a very strong foothold with its current Hobart Class destroyer and Canberra Class LHD programs. UK Hansard transcripts | Defense News.
Nov 29/10: Rumors surface that the UK government is looking to sharply slash target costs for the Type 26 frigates, from GBP 500 million to GBP 250-350 million ($400 550 million), in order to field a large enough Royal Navy fleet.
If the project is properly managed, and British shipyards can be cost-competitive, global precedents suggest that this is still enough to field a capable multi-role frigate. The question is what capabilities get removed, or become options that the frigates are fitted for, but not with. The latter approach has been popular in Britain, but it has resulted in expensive ships that lack key capabilities such as the lack of anti-ship missiles on the Navys billion-pound Type 45 destroyers. The Scotsman | Reuters
Oct 26/10: BAE Systems submits a detailed proposal to the Brazilian Navy for an 11-ship fleet renewal package that include Type 26 frigates, but goes beyond. They are certain to face competition from shipbuilders like Frances DCNS (FREMM/ Gowind), and possibly other competitors like Spains Navantia (F100), Royal Dutch Schelde (Sigma), and even South Koreas Daewoo.
In addition to having Brazil join the Global Combat Ship (Type 26/27) program at the design stage, BAEs proposal would supply a modified Wave Class fleet tanker and a variant of BAEs River Class Ocean Patrol Vessel thats similar to ships being built under technology transfer in Thailand. All ships would be built in Brazil, and BAE Systems Surface Ships division Managing Director, Alan Johnston says that:
We are in discussions regarding the naval proposal with a number of potential industry partners in Brazil, including shipyards and combat systems developers . and will provide further details in due course.
See: BAE Systems | Southern Daily Echo.
Sept 14/10: Britain and Brazil sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement, which includes an assured warship procurement package of BAE Systems Type 26/GCS frigates and its 90m blue-water Ocean Patrol Vessels. If Brazil joins early, they can even influence the Type 26/27s design. BAE Systems Managing Director for the West, Dean McCumiskey:
This [package] is based on proven and versatile ship designs and includes an invitation to become an international partner in our new Global Combat Ship programme. If BAE Systems is selected to support Brazils ambitious naval re-equipment programme, the ships we develop will be built at a partner shipyard in Brazil, with maximum content sourced from the wider Brazilian industry.
The opportunity to provide maintenance etc. for the ships 20-30 year lifespan might be even more significant than the order itself. BAE can expect competition from DCNS FREMM frigates first and foremost, as well as other contenders like the Dutch Sigma family, Koreas shipbuilders, et. al. The fact that all of Brazils current frigates are British designs (6 Niteroi Class, 3 Type 22) may work in BAEs favor. UK MoD | BAE Systems | Andover Advertiser | Financial Times |Reuters.
March 25/10: The UK Ministry of Defence signs a 4-year, GBP 127 million contract with BAE Systems, to conduct the Type 26s Assessment Phase. A team led by BAE Systems Surface Ships, working with the MOD, will consider requirements and design proposals for the new multi-role frigates. An 80 strong joint MOD and BAE Systems team has already been established out of Bristol and this will rise to 300 over the next 4 years.
Britains First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope:
These programme announcements are welcome news for the Royal Navy. You simply cannot have an effective Navy without capable frigates, and the Type 26 combat ship will form the future backbone of the Royal Navys surface combatant force, alongside the new Type 45 destroyers. These ships will be highly versatile, able to operate across the full spectrum of operations, from war-fighting to disaster relief.
