TSAMTO, April 29. The British company Babcock announced the ceremony of laying the keel of the lead frigate of the Type-31 class for the British Navy, which took place on April 27 in the new Venturer Building workshop at the enterprise in Rosayt.
In a fully covered workshop, the dimensions of which are 147x62x42 m, two frigates can be built simultaneously.
As reported by TSAMTO, in September 2019, a consortium led by Babcock International was selected as the preferred bidder for the supply of five Type-31 multipurpose frigates to the British Navy as part of the "National Shipbuilding Strategy". The contract for the supply of Type-31 class ships was signed by the British Ministry of Defense with Babcock on November 15, 2019. The cost of the order is 1.25 billion pounds. The total cost of the Type-31 program, including related costs, is expected to be 1.98 billion pounds.
The frigates are designed to suppress illegal activities at sea, intercept violators, conduct reconnaissance, participate in the defense of the country, and support humanitarian aid operations.
As Babcock previously reported, the construction of frigates will be completed in the period from 2021 to 2028. Steel cutting for the lead ship began in September 2021. It is planned that it will be launched in 2023 and transferred to the British Navy in 2027.
The lead frigate of the series will receive the name "Vencherer". It will be followed by "Action", the construction of which is due to begin in 2023, "Formidable", "Bulldog" and "Campbeltown". The new ships will join the fleet by 2030 and will replace the five Type-23 class frigates in service.
The 140-meter frigate Arrowhead-140 proposed by the Tim-31 consortium is based on the project of the Iver Huitfeldt class frigate, which is in service with the Danish Navy. As planned, the ship will be armed with the MBDA Sea Ceptor anti-aircraft missile system, 57-mm and two 40-mm artillery installations. Thales performs the function of a system integrator and will be responsible for the supply of the TACTICOS combat control system, NS100 radar, communications equipment and other components. A helicopter can be placed on board.
