Well these would refer to the new line of combat ships also called Future Surface Combatant that the British have been trying to develop over the years.
Classifications are C1 large vessels for high-threat environments, C2 general-purpose vessels, and C3 smaller ships to replace various smaller vessel classes, such as minesweepers, patrol and survey ships.
C1 (Type 26) - An Anti Submarine Warfare task group enabled platform
C2 (Type xx) - A more general purpose platform.
In May this year May 2011 details emerged of a smaller 5,500 tonne ship emphasising flexibility and modularity like the German MEKO designs. The new design has a length of 145m, beam of 19m, top speed over 28 knots, and a crew of 130 with room for 36 embarked troops It would have 60 days endurance and have a range of 7000 miles at 15 knots. Like the Franco-Italian family of FREMM/FREDA frigates, three versions are proposed - a general purpose (GP) variant, a design optimised for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and an anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) version. The Royal Navy plan to buy 8 ASW and 5 GP ships to replace the 13 Type 23's one-for-one from 2021.
The RN ships will use the Artisan radar, Common Anti-Air Modular Missile and probably the 4.5" gun, currently installed/planned on the Type 23. Other navies could choose the Thales SMART-S radar found on Denmark's Absalon class, the Mk 45 or Otobreda 127/64 guns, or RIM-66 Standard missiles.BAE have suggested that some customers will install gas turbine engines and others will prefer to sacrifice 2-3 knots of speed by choosing cheaper diesel engines. In the stern is a mission bay with a ramp allowing the deployment of boats and unmanned vehicles, or the deployment of a towed array sonar. Chinooks can be flown off the large flight deck, and the hangar can accommodate Wildcats and Merlin.
