Type 31e frigate

Global Combat Ship

The origins of the Type 31 frigate are found in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. The review authorised a replacement programme, known as the Global Combat Ship (GCS), to replace the Royal Navy's thirteen Type 23 frigates. Earlier that year, BAE Systems was awarded a four-year, £127 million contract by the Ministry of Defence to design the new class.^[5][6] It was planned that two variants of the class would be built: five general purpose frigates and eight anti-submarine warfare frigates. There was to be little difference between the two variants, except for the Sonar 2087. Initial expectations were that all thirteen of the Global Combat Ships would be built starting in 2016, and gradually replace the Type 23 frigates one for one out to the mid-2030s. This planning assumption would not last, and during the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the then Prime minister David Cameron announced that only eight of the anti-submarine warfare version, the Type 26 frigate, would be ordered.^[7]

General Purpose Frigate

Although the 2015 defence review resulted in a cut in the planned number of Global Combat Ships to eight, it also announced that the five remaining Type 23 frigates would be replaced by a new programme; the General Purpose Frigate (GPFF). The new class is intended to be a lighter, flexible and more affordable general purpose frigate.^[8][9] According to the 2015 defence review, and then Prime Minister David Cameron, the lower cost of these frigates could lead to the Royal Navy acquiring more than five of them, thus increasing its overall numbers of frigates and destroyers.^[10][11] During a defence and security lecture in July 2016, GPFF was referred to as the Type 31 frigate by the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones.^[10] Admiral Jones further stated that Type 31 frigates could permanently operate East of Suez; from the Persian Gulf region to the Far East.^[10] During the same month, BAE Systems revealed two general purpose frigate designs, namely the Avenger-class (based on the "Amazonas-class/River-class Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel") and the Cutlass-class (described as a "significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the Al Shamikh-class corvette design").^[12] An August news article in The Sunday Times stated that Babcock International and BMT also submitted one design each.^[13][14]

Breaking BAE's hold on UK shipbuilding

An article in the Financial Times on 18 October 2017 quoted Francis Tusa, editor of Defence Analysis, saying that the competition appeared to be designed to break BAE’s hold on naval shipbuilding. Many officials inside the Ministry of Defence, the Treasury and Royal Navy have long resented the obligation, set a decade ago, to maintain skills and shipbuilding capacity at BAE’s shipyards on the Clyde regardless of naval needs. “Were they to have bid as BAE Systems, they wouldn’t win,” he said. “That is absolutely obvious. The fact is that the Type 31 is slanted probably to exclude any bid that includes BAE.” MOD officials stated that the competition is designed to improve speed of delivery and reduce cost.^[15]

National Shipbuilding Strategy

In order to maintain national shipbuilding capacity the 2017 national shipbuilding strategy proposes ordering an initial batch of five Type 31e Frigates to be completed by 2023, intended for export with their cost limited to £250m each, to be followed by a second batch order of Type 31 for the Royal Navy. The Type 31e would be built in modular form as with the Queen Elizabeth carriers at several commercial shipyards, and assembled in one central yard.^[16]

Design tenders

The 'Leander' concept by BAE for the type 31 frigate class. It is based heavily on the Khareef class corvettes for the Omani Navy, previously built by BAE in the early 2010s.

Throughout 2017 several designs from different companies were suggested as contenders for the Type 31. BAE submitted two designs, "Avenger", essentially an improved Batch 3 River-class OPV,^[17] and "Cutlass", a significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the Al Shamikh-class corvette.^[18] BMT submitted a design called "Venator 110",^[19][20] with Steller Systems putting forward project "Spartan" ^[21][22] and Babcock offered a design named "Arrowhead 120".^[23][24]

In October 2017, BAE Systems announced its intention to withdraw from the Type 31 competition as a main contractor, citing the capacity constraints of its shipyards on the Clyde, which are full with the work on the new River-class patrol vessels and Type 26 frigates. Instead, BAE announced a partnership with Cammell Laird, whereby BAE would provide its expertise in design and systems integration, while Cammell Laird would be the prime contractor and be responsible for the assembly of the ships at its yard at Birkenhead.^[25] The planned design has been named "Leander", a reference to three previous major classes of ship in the Royal Navy.^[26]

In November 2017, it was announced that BMT Defence Services and Babcock signed a co-operation agreement for the Type 31e. They did not choose between their respective "Venator 110" or "Arrowhead 120" designs, but instead would explore their designs to determine the best possible option.^[27] In late May 2018, Babcock, partnered with BMT and Thales Group announced the "Arrowhead 140" design, based on the hull of the Danish Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates.^[28]

Competition Suspended and Restarted

An article in The Times on 25 July 2018 stated that the government competition for the Type 31e was suspended amid a funding crisis. Sources warned that the Type 31e frigate may never materialise.^[29] The next day, the UK Defence Journal reported that the program was to be restarted due to ‘insufficient compliant bids’ and the Ministry of Defence insisted the program ‘has not been cancelled’.^[30]