Next-generation Type 26 frigates will serve until nearly 2060

From Navy News.

The Navy’s next-generation frigates – the Type 26 ‘global combat ship’ – will become the backbone of the fleet into the second half of the 21st Century.

The last of the 13 ships planned as a one-for-one replacement for today’s Type 23 frigates is due to be in service until the end of the 2050s.

THE Navy’s next-generation frigates – the Type 26 ‘global combat ship’ – will become the backbone of the fleet into the second half of the 21st Century.

The last of the 13 ships planned in the class as a one-for-one replacement for today’s Type 23 frigates is due to be in service until the end of the 2050s.

In an update on progress with the design of the successor to the Duke class, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has told MPs on the Defence Select Committee that the future warships are being designed with a 25-year lifespan in mind.

From the outset – unlike Type 45 destroyers – the 26s will be fitted with a 24-cell vertical missile silo to carry cruise, anti-ship or anti-submarine missiles or rockets.

There will 48 Sea Ceptor missiles to provide air defence – not just for the ship but also neighbouring vessels in a group.

On the gunnery front, a 5in – rather than the RN’s long-standing 4.5in – will be the main punch, supported by two 30mm cannons and two automated Phalanx as a last line of defence against incoming air or fast surface craft attack.

Although the Merlin or Wildcat helicopter will be the new ship’s principal aerial battlewagon, it will be able to take a Chinook – with its ramp down for troop embarkation – as well as any pilotless aircraft in which the Fleet Air Arm decides to invest.

Key to what Mr Fallon calls a “truly mission-tuneable” vessel will be the ‘adaptable mission bay’ next to the hangar, which can be equipped or kitted out depending on whatever of 17 different kinds of deployments a Type 26 could be sent on.

The bay will be large enough to hold four 12-metre boats (considerably larger than RN Pacific 24 RIBs or Royal Marines ORCs), unmanned air, surface and submarine vehicles, disaster relief stores, medical facilities, and command and control centre or ten 20ft ISO containers.