Life Extension for Royal Navy's Aging Frigates Proves Costly

HMS Sutherland before her four-year refit, 2017 (Royal Navy)

The British government has spent $1.3 billion on life extension and upgrades for the aging Type 23 frigates over the past decade, even as half of the vessels have phased out of active service.

UK Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle told the UK Parliament in a written response that since 2014, $1.2 billion has been spent on the delivery of the frigates' upkeep. A further $82.7 million is currently being spent on vessels that are still in service.

“These are a planned series of upkeep periods in order to maintain ship condition and to introduce, where appropriate, capability updates,” said Eagle.

Despite the massive resources committed to the life extension refits on the aging frigates, which were built for the Royal Navy in the 1980s, at least half of them are no longer in service. Of the 16 Type 23 frigates, only eight remain in the Royal Navy after three were sold to the Chilean Navy and five were retired. The hulls of the Type 23s were built with thin plate in order to reduce weight, and were never intended to serve for so long, according to British defense outlet Navy Lookout.

HMS Sutherland was the final Type 23 frigate to receive the life extension upgrades at defense firm Babcock, which will allow her to continue in service into the mid-2030s alongside her sisters. The frigate underwent extensive modernization and extension refits and only returned to the sea in January this year for trials after four years at the dockyard.

While the UK government has opted to keep some of the Type 23 frigates in active service before their replacements, the Type 26 and Type 31 frigates start entering service, it has also been forced to retire others due to the exorbitant costs being incurred in operational maintenance.

According to Eagle, the eight Type 26 ships are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035 while the five Type 31 ships are planned to be in service by the early 2030s.

The City-Class Type 26 frigates, which are being built at BAE Systems, are primarily designed for anti-submarine warfare but are also capable of supporting air defense and general-purpose operations. They have a displacement of approximately 6,900 tonnes, a length of 149.9 metres, and a beam of 20.8 metres. The Inspiration Class Type 31 ships are being built at Babcock, with the first three at different stages of construction.