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First of UK Royal Navy’s New Frigates Emerges as it Prepares for Float-Out

new frigate
First of the next generation Type 31 frigates emerged from the building hall in Scotland (Royal Navy)

Published May 27, 2025 7:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

The first of the next generation of frigates being built for the UK’s Royal Navy, the Type 31, emerged from the building hall in Rosyth, Scotland on May 27, ahead of her scheduled float-out later this summer. The Royal Navy highlights that it is a highly advanced vessel that is larger and more efficient than the older Type 23 that it will replace as part of a £10 billion ($13.5 billion) investment in the Fleet of Tomorrow.

The move from the building hall came five and a half years after the UK Ministry of Defence selected Babcock Team 31 (a partnership between Babcock and Thales Group) as the preferred bidder for a five-ship contract. The average production cost for the vessels was estimated at £250 million ($338 million) with the project set for 10 years from contract signing to delivery of the vessels.

At 5,700 tonnes displacement and 139 meters (456 feet), the ships will be 60 percent larger than the frigates they replace the Royal Navy highlights. However, they are highly efficient and will operate with 60 percent of the crew, around 120 compared with 180-200 with the older vessels. The vessels are designed for multi-role deployment ranging from deterring aggression and maintaining security to providing humanitarian relief supported by real-time data to supper immediate and complex decision-making.

 

HMS Venturer is being placed on a Self-Propelled Modular Transporter and will in a few weeks be lowered into the water for the first time (Babcock)

 

The design was selected in September 2019 as a tough competition and the first steel was cut for HMS Venturer in September 2021. The keel for the second vessel, HMS Active, was laid in September 2023, and cut for the third vessel, HMS Formidable, in October 2024.

Babcock built a new assembly hall specifically designed for these vessels. It measures over 147 meters (more than 480 feet). It is capable of supporting parallel build and assembly activity for two of the Type 31 vessels side-by-side.

“HMS Venturer will be at the heart of the Royal Navy fleet, deterring aggression and supporting our Armed Forces,” said Minister for Armed Forces Luke Pollard during the roll-out. “She also represents the Best of Britain’s world-class shipbuilding heritage.”

 

 

The Royal Navy highlights that the 28-meter-tall doors of the building hall were opened for the first time to prepare for the rollout. It took nearly 12 hours to edge the hull out of the hall and on to the neighboring hardstanding. Later this summer she will be lowered on a special barge and floated off into the dock at Rosyth to begin the installation and testing of systems, sensors, and weapons.

Babcock executives told the UK Defence Journal that they expect the frigate will spend the next six to nine months outfitting and then begin acceptance trials. They hope to have that done in the next 12 months and are working to handover the vessel to the Royal Navy as soon as possible.

The Type 31 class is based on Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 design. The company highlights that it is also using it as an export having already contracted with Indonesia and Poland for three vessels.