 |
|
HOME
|
US Navy -
ships
|
US Navy - air
units
|
USMC - air
units
|
International
Navies
|
Weapon Systems
|
Special Reports |
|
United Kingdom - Royal Navy Type 31 class Frigate (General Purpose Frigate GPFF) |
 |
| 12/22 |
| Ships: |
|
HMS Active HMS Bulldog HMS Formidable HMS Venturer HMS Campbeltown |
| Specifications: |
|
Builder: Babcock
International, Rosyth, Scotland, UK Length: 138.7 meters (455 ft) Beam: ? Draft: ? Displacement: 5700 tonnes Speed: 28+ knots (52+ km/h) Range: 9000 NM (17000 km) Complement: 80-100 crew (accommodation for up to 160) Propulsion: CODAD (combined Diesel and Diesel) 4 x Rolls Royce/MTU 20V 8000 M71 (8.2 MW) diesel engines 4 x Rolls Royce/MTU 16V 2000 M41B (900 KW) generators 2 shafts / 2 controllable-pitch propellers Armament: Sea Ceptor Vertical Launching System (VLS) - 24 cells with CAMM SAM Missiles - - - - - 1 x BAE Mk.110 (57mm/70-caliber) gun 2 x BAE Bofors 40 Mk.4 40mm guns 4 x M134 Miniguns Aviation: flight deck and hangar for 1 helicopter (AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2 or Merlin HM2) Systems: Thales TACTICOS combat management system Thales NS110 3D air and surface surveillance radar Raytheon Warship Integrated Navigation and Bridge System Terma Scanter and Raytheon NSX navigation radars Thales Mirador Mk2 EOS (electro-optical tracking system) Viasat Ultrahigh-frequency satellite communications Thales Vigile-D ESM System |
|
The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, also known as the Active
class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose
Frigate (GPFF), is a planned class of frigate for the United
Kingdom's Royal Navy intended to enter service in the 2020s
alongside the Type 32 frigate, and the more capable Type 26 frigate. It is intended that the Type 31 Frigate will replace some of the Type 23 frigates. The Type 31 is part of the British government's "National Shipbuilding Strategy". Development: The Type 31 frigate came out of 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. 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. The 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review decided that only eight anti-submarine warfare Type 26 frigates, would be ordered. Five general purpose frigates to a different design altogether would be ordered to give at least 13 frigates in RN service. General Purpose Frigate: The resultant General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) was a new class intended to be a lighter, flexible and more affordable general purpose frigate. According to the 2015 defence review, 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. 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. Admiral Jones further stated that Type 31 frigates could permanently operate East of Suez; from the Persian Gulf region to the Asia-Pacific. During the same month, BAE Systems revealed two general purpose frigate designs, namely the Avenger class which was based on the "Amazonas-class/River-class Batch 2 offshore patrol vessel" and the Cutlass class that was described as a "significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the Al Shamikh-class corvette design". An August news article in The Sunday Times stated that Babcock International and BMT also submitted one design each. National Shipbuilding Strategy: In October 2017 The Financial Times stated that "..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." It quoted Francis Tusa, a defence analyst, who argued that the competition appeared to be designed to break BAE's hold on naval shipbuilding; “Were they to have bid as BAE Systems, they wouldn’t win. That is absolutely obvious. The fact is that the Type 31 is slanted probably to exclude any bid that includes BAE.” However this was denied by the MoD which stated that the competition is designed to improve speed of delivery and reduce cost. In order to maintain national shipbuilding capacity, the 2017 national shipbuilding strategy proposes ordering an initial batch of five Type 31e Frigates with an initial in-service date in 2023, intended for export with their cost limited to a maximum £250m each, to be followed by a second batch order of Type 31 for the Royal Navy. The Type 31 is projected to be built in modular form as with the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers at several commercial shipyards, and assembled in one central yard. Design tenders: 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, and "Cutlass", a significantly stretched and enhanced derivation of the Al Shamikh-class corvette. BMT submitted a design called "Venator 110", with Steller Systems putting forward project "Spartan" and Babcock offered a design named "Arrowhead 120". In October 2017, BAE Systems announced its intention to withdraw from the Type 31e competition as a main contractor, citing the capacity constraints of its shipyards on the Clyde, which were 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. The planned design has been named "Leander", a reference to three previous classes of ship in the Royal Navy. In November 2017, it was announced that BMT and Babcock signed a co-operation agreement for the Type 31. 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. 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. The competition was suspended on 20 July 2018 due to ‘insufficient compliant bids’ being received, however The Times claimed this was due to a "funding crisis". However the competition was restarted in August 2018. Competitive Design Phase selection: On 10 December 2018, three groups were selected for the competitive design phase: - BAE Systems/Cammell Laird with their planned Leander design - Babcock/BMT/Thales with their Arrowhead 140 design - Atlas Elektronik UK/Thyssenkrup Marine Systems, which was likely to be based on the MEKO A-200 design Both the BAE Systems and Babcock led entrants had already been put forward when the competition was temporarily suspended. The third bid, led by Atlas Elektronik UK, was likely to use the MEKO A-200 platform as its basis, currently in use with the Algerian and South African Navies. Both the Babcock and Atlas proposals included Ferguson Marine on the Clyde and Harland & Wolff in Belfast. By August 2019 both Ferguson Marine and Harland & Wolff had announced that they were in financial difficulties. It was announced on 12 September 2019 that the Arrowhead 140 design had been selected for the Type 31 Frigate. A contract was formally awarded to Babcock Group on 15 November 2019, for an average production cost of £250 million per ship and an overall program cost set to be £2 billion with £1.25 billion value to prime contractor Babcock. On 20 January 2020, the Public Accounts Committee was informed by the Permanent Secretary for Defence that the first ship will be in the water by 2023 but the in-service date will be in 2027. This is in contrast to earlier statements that the in-service date would be in 2023. Characteristics: During a July 2016 Defence Select Committee hearing, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones described the GPFF as "to be a much less high-end ship. It is still a complex warship, and it is still able to protect and defend and to exert influence around the world, but it is deliberately shaped with lessons from wider industry and off-the-shelf technology to make it... more appealing to operate at a slightly lower end of Royal Navy operations." IHS Janes described it as a "credible frigate" that will cover "maritime security, maritime counter-terrorism and counter-piracy operations, escort duties, and naval fire support... [sitting] between the high-end capability delivered by the Type 26 and Type 45, and the constabulary-oriented outputs to be delivered by the five planned River-class Batch 2 OPVs." A September 2017 graphic released by the Royal Navy stressed modular adaptability and flexible construction of the design for export opportunities. Core requirements of the Type 31e frigate include a medium calibre gun, point defence systems, hangar and a flight deck for Wildcat or ten tonne helicopter operated by a crew of around 100 with space for 40 more personnel. The British government released a Request for information (RFI) in September 2017, detailing the desired characteristics of the Type 31e. The RFI provides greater details such as a "Medium Calibre Gun" of greater than 57 mm (2.2 in), a point defence anti-air missile system and the optional ability to launch and recover unmanned aerial vehicles. Forces News reported that the design will contain Sea Ceptor missiles, an advanced air and surface surveillance and target indication radar such as the Thales NS100 and be able to operate either an AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2 or an AgustaWestland Merlin HM2. On 1 October 2020, BAE Systems announce it was under contract to supply five Bofors 57 Mk3 medium caliber guns and ten Bofors 40 Mk4 small caliber guns to the Royal Navy for the first five Type 31 frigates. The exact configuration will be adequate but adaptable and the ships may form part of the Queen Elizabeth-class carrier strike group. In May 2021, the names of the five planned Type 31 ships were announced by the First Sea Lord. The names were selected to represent key themes that represent the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines - forward deployment of ships overseas; operating in the North Atlantic; carrier operations; technology and innovation; and the Future Commando Force. Together, the five ships will be known as the Inspiration class. As of 2021, planning envisages them all being in service by February 2030. source: wikipedia |
| images |
   |
|
|
seaforces.org
|
Royal
Navy start page
| |