In broad terms, 2018 was a positive year for the naval service, in many ways an improvement on 2017. The navy has been able to deliver a higher operational tempo than last year and despite initial indications to the contrary, has escaped further cuts. More
It’s early days in the construction of the first ‘city class’ Type 26 frigate, HMS Glasgow. Here we take an overview of her manufacture and the Clyde shipyards where she is being built.
Significant investment in computer technology has been made to support the detailed design and production of the Type 26 frigate. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems have been in use for many years but Virtual Reality software is now core to the design process.More
Earlier this week our embattled Prime Minister, speaking at the Lord Mayor’s banquet in the capital announced the 8th and final Type 26 frigate will bear the name HMS London. The government may be desperate for some good news stories, but this is scraping the bottom of the PR barrel. The MoD is unable to say when she will be ordered or even approximately which year she will be in service. Projecting from the current glacial rate of construction, this ship could be at least 18 years away from joining the fleet.More
Unable to follow up their success building OPVs for export, and with no other orders forthcoming, last week Babcock made the sad announcement that the Appledore shipyard will close in March 2019. Here we examine the background and potential impacts of this decision.
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Like most warship building projects, the Batch II River class OPVs being built for the Royal Navy have proved to be politically sensitive and controversial. In this article, we will provide some more context and an update on the progress of the five ships.More
Hot on the heels of the Type 26 winning the Australian SEA 5000 frigate competition in June, the Canadian government has announced they have selected the Type 26 for their Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) competition. More
Today the MoD has announced the award of the Future In-Service Support (FISS) contracts worth a total of £1Bn to provide maintenance support for 17 vessels of the naval service. For the RN this is broadly good news, efficiently sustaining a large part of the fleet, strengthening shipyards while offering greater competition and diversity amongst its suppliers. More
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is currently taking delivery of four large and well equipped new replenishment tankers. Here we take a detailed look at their construction, design and purpose.