TSAMTO, April 6. BAE Systems has announced an official ceremony held on April 4 at BAE Systems Govan in Glasgow to mark the start of construction of the Birmingham Type-26 (City) class frigate.
The event was held in the presence of the Minister of Defense Procurement of Great Britain Alex Chock.
The Birmingham will be the first ship to be built under an additional contract signed in November 2020, providing for the supply of five frigates. Following the cutting of steel for the construction of the Birmingham, it is planned to begin construction of the frigate Sheffield and other ships of the series.
Currently, BAE Systems is already working on the construction of the first three ships of the Type-26 class. The lead ship of the series, the Glasgow, is located at the BAE Systems shipyard in Scotstown, where various equipment is installed on board. The assembly of the Cardiff hull continues, and the construction of the Belfast is at an early stage.
As reported by TSAMTO, on July 3, 2017, after the completion of the project development phase, BAE Systems signed a contract with the British Ministry of Defense for the construction of the first three Type-26 class frigates. They will receive the names "Glasgow", "Cardiff" and "Belfast". The cost of the agreement was 3.7 billion pounds ($4.8 billion).
The plans of the British Navy provide for the construction of a total of 8 Type-26 frigates, the main purpose of which is to fight enemy submarines.
Work on the lead frigate of the series, "Glasgow", began in June 2017. In December 2022, it was launched. It is planned that the Glasgow will be put into service in the mid-2020s and will join the fleet by the end of 2028. Steel cutting for the second frigate, the Cardiff, began in August 2019, and the third, the Belfast, in June 2021.
On November 15, 2020, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom signed a contract with BAE Systems worth 4.2 billion pounds for the construction of the following five Type-26 (City class) frigates for the British Navy: Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. It is assumed that the construction of all eight ships will be completed by the mid-2030s. The minimum design life of their operation will be at least 25 years.
The Type-26 class frigate is conceived as a low-visibility surface warship with a low acoustic signature, which should become the basis of the surface fleet of the British Navy until 2060. It will replace the Type-23 class frigates in service. The main task of the frigates will be the fight against submarines, the provision of air defense, the protection of nuclear deterrence and the new aircraft carriers of the Queen Elizabeth class. It is assumed that the ship will be able to be used independently or as part of an operational group to perform combat missions in various conditions: from participating in high-intensity conflicts to combating piracy, supporting humanitarian and search and rescue operations.
