Steel cutting begins on third Type 31 Inspiration-class frigate in UK
How the Type 31 frigates will look in service. (Image: Royal Navy/MoD Crown copyright)
HMS Formidable has begun steel cutting just 20 months after its predecessor vessel, HMS Active.
Defence company Babcock has begun steel cutting on the third Type 31 Inspiration-class frigate, HMS Formidable, at the company’s Scottish facility in Rosyth. The beginning of the shipbuilding process on the newest member of the five-ship fleet comes just 20 months after its predecessor vessel, HMS Active, began its own steel cutting. Meanwhile the first of the Type 31 frigates, HMS Venturer is approaching structural completion.
The remaining two vessels in the UK government’s procurement, HMS Bulldog and HMS Campbelltown, are expected to launch by 2027, by which time the total programme value of the Type 31 fleet, including systems and equipment, will have reached US$2.7 billion.
The Type 31 Inspiration-class is a general-purpose vessel intended to replace the Royal Navy’s Type 23 Duke-class frigates, which Babcock will also maintain until the replacement is complete.
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UK minister for the armed forces Luke Pollard said the new frigates would be at the heart of the Royal Navy fleet.
“Today’s significant milestone is backing the government’s mission to grow the economy by supporting thousands of jobs in Scotland and across the UK,” Pollard said at the steel-cutting ceremony.
Key to the Babcock bid for the frigate builds in 2019 was the company’s commitment to boosting jobs in the UK, not only throughout the build process but through the ongoing lives of the vessels.
Babcock has claimed it will create 1,000 new roles at Rosyth over the next four years, including 400 apprenticeships, 350 production support operatives, skilled engineers, tradespeople and graduates. The majority of these new roles, the company said, would support the Type 31 programme over the lifetime of the project.
The Type 31 programme has also been good for Babcock’s forward business, as its Arrowhead 140, the base design of the Type 31 frigate, has already been exported to both the Indonesian and Polish governments.
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