UK inks long-awaited contract for extra Type 26 frigates
The first City-class Type 26 frigate, HMS Glasgow, under construction at BAE Systems Govan shipyard. (Photo: BAE Systems)
Against the backdrop of the G20 summit in Indonesia, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has greenlit a contract to build five more frigates for the UK Royal Navy (RN).
The UK government has awarded BAE Systems a £4.2 billion ($4.97 billion) contract to build a second batch of five City-class Type 26 frigates.
Signing the contract is a long-awaited formality, with long-lead items for the five frigates already being ordered.
Steel for the first batch two frigate, HMS Birmingham, will be cut this winter, marking the start of the second batch build phase.
The batch two contract brings the total number of Type 26 frigates for the UK RN on order to eight, the first of which, HMS Glasgow, is due to be launched later this year.
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