Making way for Medway
The UK Royal Navy (RN) carried out the naming ceremony of its latest River-class OPV at BAE Systems Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow on 20 October.
HMS Medway is the second of the River Batch 2 OPVs to be named. The first of class, HMS Forth, was officially named in March 2017 and is currently conducting sea trials.
According to the MoD the new OPV programme is maintaining jobs and vital skills needed to build new ships ‘for a Royal Navy growing for the first time since the Second World War'.
Despite this sentiment many builds have been reduced from
Already have an account? Log in
Want to keep reading this article?
More from Naval Warfare
-
Future of the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke programme remains unclear
The US Navy does not have a precise date for the award of the procurement contract for the third Arleigh Burke-class destroyer despite having the funds to advance with the programme in FY2025.
-
US Navy may look to foreign suppliers to accelerate shipbuilding programmes
The US Navy (USN) is currently reassessing its acquisition efforts and seeking ways to reduce the multiple delays across the shipbuilding initiatives.
-
Australia commissions HMAS Arafura three-and-a-half years behind schedule
The Royal Australian Navy has finally commissioned the first Arafura-class offshore patrol vessel – more than three years behind schedule – highlighting the programme’s delays, design compromises and ongoing industrial restructuring.
-
Italy orders two ships as work begins on others along with deliveries and updates
The Italian Navy is being refreshed with two new ships ordered, while in the past six months steel was cut for a new frigate, an enhanced frigate was delivered and Horizon-class frigates passed a design review.