With two of the Royal Navy’s five operational Type 23 frigates now considered unseaworthy, Britain may be left with a single vessel available for Atlantic patrols as soon as next year.
The deteriorating state of the existing Duke-class fleet makes the timely delivery of Babcock’s five Type 31 replacements, already running two years behind schedule, more urgent than ever.
Yet a separate problem is emerging beyond the shipyard: a 24-month bureaucratic acceptance process that must be completed before any new warship can formally enter service.
Independent defence analyst Francis Tusa has warned that a shortage of qualified engineering staff means the Royal Navy can currently evaluate only one vessel at a time, creating a severe bottleneck as multiple frigates approach delivery.
“You’re looking at a very real possibility that the Navy takes delivery of these ships, only to have to park them for years in port,” Tusa said.
Sir Nick Hine, the head of Babcock’s marine business and a former second sea lord, has put a direct challenge to that status quo, arguing the traditional model is no longer fit for purpose in the current security environment.
“We are working with the Navy to try and shorten the time from vessel acceptance to in service – the traditional model of doing that over 24 months seems to me to be unnecessarily long,” he said, adding: “We’ve offered a way of doing it in less time than that, and they are considering it.”
The FTSE 100 contractor is constructing the five Type 31 general purpose frigates at its Rosyth facility in Fife, with HMS Venturer as the lead vessel in the class.
Originally scheduled to enter service in 2027, HMS Venturer has been set back by Covid-related disruption and errors during early construction, with ministers now indicating handover will occur only by “the end of the decade,” suggesting operational capability may not arrive until the early 2030s.
Babcock is also in separate discussions about introducing double-shift working at Rosyth to accelerate production across the programme, according to reports.
Sir Nick acknowledged the scale of ambition required but refused to lower the target, saying: “We should be working really hard to have a route to the majority of the platforms being operational by the end of 2030.”
The urgency is compounded by repeated warnings from senior military and political figures about deteriorating security conditions, particularly Russia’s growing assertiveness in the Atlantic, which Navy commanders describe as their primary operational backyard.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting stated last month that British armed forces must be prepared to fight a war within 1,000 days, while First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins cautioned in February that “war is a possibility.”
Beyond the five Type 31s, the Navy is also preparing to receive eight Type 26 submarine-hunting frigates from BAE Systems, placing further strain on an acceptance system already struggling with capacity.
Tusa suggested one way through the logjam would be to adopt an industry-led testing model similar to the approach used to commission both Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers into service.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the department was actively engaged with the contractor to improve delivery outcomes, stating: “We continue to work closely with Babcock to maximise delivery performance within the contract.”