Designing the Type 26 frigate

The Royal Navy is going through one of the most tumultuous periods in its entire illustrious, five-century existence. It’s a time of conflicting emotions as the old flagship, Ark Royal, is sent into history before its time, according to some commentators while new Type 45 destroyers take their first trip down the Clyde and into service. The submarine fleet is also being refreshed, with the new Astute-class attack boats on sea trials. And nobody could fail to notice the massive sections of the new flagship, Queen Elizabeth, arriving at the dockyard in Rosyth to be assembled, with yet another wave of controversy over its initial lack of aircraft-launching capability and, indeed, aircraft.

But the activity isn’t just confined to dockyards. Yet another of the navy’s ship classes is also approaching retirement, and this time it’s the Senior Service’s workhorse, the frigate fleet. Smaller and lighter than destroyers, the frigates referred to as Type 23s or occasionally Duke-class ships have been in service since the 1980s and are due to be decommissioned towards the end of this decade; three have recently been sold to the Chilean Navy. Although steel is as yet uncut on their replacements, which will be called Type 26s, the project to design the new backbone of the 21st-century Royal Navy is well under way.