Minister cuts steel for first of three frigates

Sir Michael claims order will safeguard 3,400 jobs on the Clyde

Defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon has cut the steel for the first of a fleet of frigates that will form the backbone of the Royal Navy in the coming decades.

Sir Michael was at the BAE Systems shipyard in Govan, Glasgow, to formally start work on the first of the warships, which he announced would be named HMS Glasgow.

It will be the first three of the new Type 26 anti-submarine frigates to be built as part of a £3.7 billion contract that will help safeguard 3,400 jobs at the Clyde shipyard and across the rest of the UK.

Sir Michael described the work as a “huge programme” saying that “billions of pounds’ worth of taxpayers’ money is providing work here for nearly 20 years”.

Original plans were for 13 Type 26 vessels to be built, and SNP defence procurement spokesman Douglas Chapman said: “While we welcome today’s long awaited start to cut steel for three frigates, three is clearly not the 13 promised to the workforce on the Clyde.”

Sir Michael said that after the eight anti-submarine frigates had been built, there would be “at least five lighter frigates to follow on”.

The defence secretary said the Government would be “looking to see what other yards can contribute to that programme”, but stressed currently “the eight large anti-submarine frigates are going to be built here on the Clyde”.

HMS Glasgow will enter service in the mid-2020s.

Speaking to workers at the Govan yard, Sir Michael said: “These frigates will be the backbone of the Royal Navy well into the 2050s.

“When you consider there are a further five ships to follow the initial three, that they will be part of a sophisticated future fleet including destroyers, dreadnoughts, submarines and the offshore patrol vessel.

“We are therefore ensuring that Govan and Scotland will remain the centre of shipbuilding in our country for decades to come.”

An artist’s impression of the Type 26 frigate that is to be built on the Clyde.