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The Royal Navy Needs New Frigates, BAE Systems in Glasgow Inks Deal to Keep Building Them

The Royal Navy has a chip on its shoulder in the year 2022. Though it's not the largest group of imperial sea fearers in the world as it may have been in the distant past. It's still a vital cog in a sea-bound wall of defense in the beating heart of NATO.
Type 26 Frigate 8 photos
Photo: BAE Systems
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That's why a sizeable investment of £4.2 billion ($4.97 billion) from the British Parliament to BAE Systems to build five further war vessels is a bigger deal than you might think. For the people of Glasgow, it's a point of national pride. On the 15th of November, it was announced that BAE System's facilities in and around Glasgow would soon be dedicated to the construction of five Type 26 Frigates well into the 2030s.

With variants planned for the Navies of Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and possibly even Brazil further down the line, the Type 26 is the commonwealth nation's next-gen light warship. Similar but not equal in size and firepower to the next-gen American Constellation-class frigates under development at the exact same time. With a displacement of roughly 10,000 tons (9,800 long tons, 11,000 short tons), a top speed in the 26 knots (48 km/h) range is actually quite impressive.

With a sizeable flight deck for a non-aircraft carrier vessel, an accompaniment of Boeing Chinook or AgustaWestland Wildcat helicopters could launch off the deck of this new vessel. With an arsenal on hand of two 20mm CIWS cannons, two 20mm short-range autocannons, and a single 5"/54 caliber Mark 45 gun 127 ship cannon, she's no WWII battleship in terms of firepower.

Even so, there's a reason frigates like the Type 26 help form the backbone of modern NATO surface fleets, and big, hulking battleships don't. In a modern battlefield where submarines are a heck of a lot scarier than other surface vessels, Type 26 frigates seem destined to be the next great anti-submarine vessel. It's bound to be well above average at high-intensity air defense as well. With the first contracts for production signed in 2015 and the first steel laid down in 2017 for the HMS Glasgow, it's all been a long time in the making.

Type 26 Frigate
Photo: Ministry of Defense
"We are investing in our fleet to ensure our Royal Navy maintains its world-leading capability to protect and defend our nation at sea," said Ben Wallace, British Secretary of State for Defence "a. This design has already been successfully exported to Australia, and Canada, proving itself as a world-class maritime capability, securing thousands of U.K. jobs and strengthening alliances with our allies. Supporting thousands of high-skilled jobs in Scotland and more across the wider U.K. supply chain, this contract will continue to boost our British shipbuilding industry, galvanizing the very best of British engineering."

In a Scottish city that was once a regional industrial powerhouse, it's a sign that Glasgow still has what it takes to build world-class military sea vessels. At a time when the U.S. Navy won't be fielding any frigates until at least the late 2020s, the Type 26 will help fill a role in NATO naval convoys that larger American destroyers are too valuable to fulfill properly. Considering the U.S. Navy lacks a dedicated small ASW platform, the Type 26 suddenly becomes all the more valuable.

Thanks to these recent contracts, all roads to the Type 26 frigate will lead through Glasgow. With NATO perpetually playing mutual brinkmanship with superpowers in China and Russia, expect the Type 26 to be patrolling waters with other NATO vessels before too long. One can only hope the ship sails with several pallets of Irn Bru and Caramel Mars bars for that extra Scottish flare.
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