Type 31 frigate

The winning design submitted by Babcock, which is based on the Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates
Class overview
NameType 31 Frigate
Builders
Operators
Preceded byType 23 frigate
Cost£268 million (2019)[4] per unit (est.)
In service2027[5][6]
Planned
  • 10 (total)[7]
  • 5 (UK)
  • 2 (Indonesia)
  • 3 (Poland)
Building6
Completed0
General characteristics
TypeGeneral purpose Frigate
Displacement
  • 5,700 t (5,600 long tons)
  • Also listed: 7,000 t (6,900 long tons; 7,700 short tons)[8]
Length138.7 m (455 ft 1 in)
Installed power
  • 4 × Rolls Royce/MTU 20V 8000 M71 (8.2 MW) diesel engines[9]
  • 4 × Rolls Royce/MTU 16V 2000 M41B (900 kW) generators
  • or 4 × Caterpillar 3512C (1360 kW) generators
Propulsion
  • CODAD propulsion System
  • MAN Alpha VBS Mk 5 controllable pitch propeller
  • 2 × Shafts[10]
SpeedIn excess of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Endurance9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi)
Complementc. 110 (accommodation for up to 190)[11]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thales Nederland TACTICOS combat management system
  • Thales NS110 4D Dual-Axis Multi-Beam AESA Radar
  • Anschütz Warship Integrated Navigation and Bridge System
  • Terma Scanter and Anschütz NSX navigation radars
  • 2 × Mirador Mk2 EOS
  • Viasat Ultrahigh-frequency satellite communications[12]
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilitiesHelicopter hangar sized for Merlin and flight deck sized for Boeing CH-47 Chinook
Notes
  • Mission bay under flight deck for 6 TEUs
  • 3–4 boat bays for RHIBs and USVs/UUVs

The Type 31 frigate, also known as the Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a class of five frigates being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built for the Indonesian and Polish navies. The Type 31 is intended to enter service in the 2020s alongside the eight submarine-hunting Type 26 frigate and will replace the five general-purpose Type 23 frigates.[17] The Type 31 is part of the British government's "National Shipbuilding Strategy".[18]

Designed by Babcock International, it is based on the Odense Maritime Technology (OMT) Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate hull and is marketed under the name Arrowhead 140.[19][20] The design has been sold to Indonesia as the two ship Fregat Merah Putih ("Red-White frigate") in September 2021, and to Poland for the three ship Wicher-class frigates in March 2022.[21][22][23]

  1. ^ Vavasseur, Xavier (15 November 2019). "UK MoD Formally Awards Type 31 Frigate Contract To Babcock". Naval News. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference indodefence22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Donnelly, B. (2022). "Scottish shipyard wins Polish Navy frigate contracts". Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Royal Navy frigate programme update". www.navylookout.com. 20 July 2021.
  5. ^ Allison, George (7 February 2020). "Type 31 Frigate in-service date slips by four years".
  6. ^ "Only seven years to wait until the Royal Navy gets a new frigate | Save the Royal Navy". www.savetheroyalnavy.org. 8 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Ambitious future for Naval Shipbuilding in the UK". gov.uk. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  8. ^ Johnson, J. (2022). Type 31 Frigate: Complex Warship Design for a Dynamic Operational Environment. International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  9. ^ "Rolls-Royce Seals Propulsion Systems Contract For Royal Navy's Type 31 Frigates". 29 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  10. ^ "MAN to supply propulsion for Royal Navy frigates". rivieramm.com. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  11. ^ "The development of a lean crewing solution for the Royal Navy's Type 31 frigate". Navy Lookout. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  12. ^ Chuter, Andrew (3 November 2020). "Viasat to supply Britain's future frigate with satellite communications tech". defensenews.com. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  13. ^ "DE&S awards contract for new Royal Navy electronic warfare capabilities". Defence Equipment and Support. 2022.
  14. ^ "Royal Navy's Type 31 frigates to be fitted with Mk41 vertical launch system". Navy Lookout. 17 May 2023.
  15. ^ Childs, Nick (7 October 2019). "UK's naval balancing act: getting the Type-31 frigate right". iiss.org/. IISS. Retrieved 1 October 2020. as well as up to 24 MBDA Sea Ceptor local-area air-defence missiles
  16. ^ Britain to arm frigates with land attack missiles
  17. ^ "Oral evidence: Naval Procurement: Type 26 and Type 45 HC 221". UK House of Commons Defence Select Committee. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Bahtić, F. (3 January 2022), One more country is modernizing its naval fleet with Type 31 frigates, retrieved 12 March 2023
  20. ^ Tovey, Alan (30 June 2021). "Babcock in talks to sell 'budget frigates' to five countries". The Telegraph.
  21. ^ Malufti, Fauzan (26 August 2023). "Indonesia Lays Keel Of First 'Red White' Frigate". navalnews.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  22. ^ Sawiyya, Rangga Baswara (10 December 2022). "Pemotongan baja pertama Kapal Fregat Merah Putih telah dilakukan oleh PT PAL" [The first steel cutting of the Red and White Frigate Ship was carried out by PT PAL]. Airspace Review (in Indonesian). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  23. ^ Allison, George (4 March 2022). "British company Babcock wins Polish frigate competition". UK Defence Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2022.