Report: UK's Frigate Deal With Norway Could Be Turned Into Cost Savings

 

The UK government recently celebrated the signing of a historic deal to sell five new Type 26 frigates to the Norwegian Navy, bringing in a combined $13 billion in order volume for the British defense industry. This expands the orderbook for the Type 26, enlarging the fleet of NATO-member ASW frigates available to patrol the North Atlantic for Russian Subs. But according to British defense publication Navy Lookout, it is possible that some of the Royal Navy's Type 26 hulls could be sold to Norway in mid-production, reducing near-term costs for Britain - and potentially cutting the size of the Royal Navy's order.

The Type 26 is a purpose-built anti-submarine warfare frigate, designed from the keel up for hunting subs. It has comparatively limited air defense radar and antiaircraft missile capabilities, but it has an advanced ability to detect subsurface threats, thanks to a quiet-running diesel-electric propulsion system and a Thales towed-array sonar. The current eight-hull Type 26 order is a downsized version of the original plan, which called for eight hulls for ASW and five fitted out for general purposes; the general purpose variants were later canceled and replaced with a different, lower-cost design, the Type 31 frigate. 

But shipyards on the Clyde received a boost in August when the UK Ministry of Defense announced that Norway would also be buying the Type 26. At $13 billion, the order amounted the UK's biggest warship export deal by value ever made, as well as Norway's biggest ever defense procurement order. As an addition to the Royal Navy's eight-hull Type 26 order, the Norwegian hulls would support four thousand jobs in Britain into the 2030s. For both nations, the deal creates a joint ASW capability that is more interoperable and maintainable, with shared equipment, training procedures and supply chains, noted RUSI fellows Cmdr. Edward Black and Dr. Sidharth Kaushal at the time. 

But the UK Ministry of Defense is under heavy pressure to find cost reductions, thanks to a combination of inflation, higher servicemember pay and low growth in topline appropriations. One conceptual method of finding savings in the medium term might be to allow Norway to take some of the Royal Navy-earmarked hulls from the Type 26 program, according to independent outlet Navy Lookout. 

"The deal to sell Type 26 frigates to Norway could turn from a huge industrial and strategic success into something of a trap for the RN. There are suggestions that more ships from the middle of the production run could be sold to the Norwegians to defer capital costs. Worse still, they might not be replaced by new orders, lowering the number of RN T26s below the eight promised," the independent outlet warned, adding that the same cost-saving concept might be applicable to the Type 31 as well. 

It is already understood that at least one under-construction hull will be transferred for delivery to Norway in 2030 as part of the agreement; the question is whether there will be more. The shipbuilder says that it is treating the 13-ship series as one continuous program, and "exact sequencing with the Norwegian ships will be agreed between the two governments as part of contract negotiations to ensure the program meets the operational requirements of both navies," prime contractor BAE told Naval News earlier this year. 

With the Royal Navy's existing Type 23 frigates showing signs of age, the prospect of reallocating more Type 26s could worsen an already-expected "frigate gap" for the service, Navy Lookout warns. "The leaders of the past who allowed the RN’s frigate force to get into this state have a lot to answer for, but it’s imperative that the politicians of today do not allow the position to worsen further," cautioned the outlet.