Royal Navy’s budget frigate competition is relaunched

THE competition to build budget frigates for the Royal Navy has been relaunched after it was halted last month, with defence chiefs saying they had received “insufficient compliant bids”.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) wants to add five Type 31e frigates to the Navy. Priced at £250m per vessel, these are stripped-down ships with fewer capabilities than other frigates.

Military sources have previously questioned how useful the ships will be, but their duties will include protecting and supporting the Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

A notice posted on the website of the Defence Equipment & Support organisation, the body which acquires military equipment for the MOD, revealed that companies interested in building the Type 31e ships had until yesterday to express an interest.

Bidders include a consortium led by Babcock which comprises Thales, OMT, BMT, Harland and Wolff and Ferguson Marine, and is offering a design called “Arrowhead”.

Merseyside-based shipbuilder Cammell Laird is offering the “Leander” design from defence giant BAE Systems.

Cammell Laird has already flagged its credentials for the project, claiming it has built up a network of 2,000 suppliers to support its bid. Both groups were involved in the aborted previous competition.

The MOD said at the time the earlier contest was abandoned that it had not received enough bids to run “an effective and robust competition”, but naval insiders claimed the terms demanded by the MOD for the contract were “too rigid and inflexible”.

Companies interested in building the Type 31e face a demanding schedule, with the first ship set to go into service in 2023 and the last one five years later.