Type 26, City-class frigates or Global Combat Ship (GSC) is the name of a series of promising frigates being created for the British Navy. It is planned that the new warships will replace 13 Type 23 frigates (known as the Duke type, from the English Duke - the duke, all 16 ships of this series were named after the English dukes). It is planned that promising British frigates will be supplied for export. They will be multipurpose warships for anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense, as well as for general-purpose operations.
It was originally planned to build 13 Global Warships for the Royal Navy, but later British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that only 8 new frigates would be built. Funding, which was planned to be spent on the construction of 5 more ships of the series, it was decided to direct the development of a new type of light and cheaper general-purpose frigates. Since the new ships will be cheaper, the British government expects that their construction in the future will increase the total number of frigates of the Royal Navy. New light frigates have already received the designation "Type 31".
It is known that promising City-class frigates for the British fleet will be built at the BAE shipyards located in various parts of Glasgow on the Clyde River. The contract for the production of Type 26 frigates was announced by BAE Systems Corporation on July 2, 2017. A few weeks later, on July 20, 2017, the ceremony of cutting the first sheet of metal for the first ship of the series, named HMS Glasgow, took place. The ceremony was attended by the British Secretary of Defense Michael Fallon.
Not so long ago, the Lords of the Admiralty decided on the choice of names for a new series of promising frigates: the first three ships will receive the names "Glasgow", "Cardiff" and "Belfast". Already now we can say that the ships will be named after the cities of Great Britain, hence the other name for the type of these warships - "City". The names already given to the first three promising frigates of the series were traditional for the light cruisers of the British fleet. They will become their true successors, taking on their role. Promising frigates will be multipurpose combat units with powerful and varied weapons, they will be able to operate both independently and as part of the British fleet.
The tasks that the Royal Navy plans to solve with the help of new frigates are quite extensive. These are fairly large warships with a standard displacement of 6,900 tons, it is assumed that the total displacement of ships can reach 8,000 tons. In terms of their main dimensions, the promising Type 26 frigates are close to other promising British warships - the Type 45 destroyers. In terms of armament, the new frigates will undoubtedly be multipurpose ships, with anti-submarine defense being their key designation. This allows us to consider these frigates as an addition to the promising Type 45 destroyers, the anti-submarine capabilities of which will be limited.
The ship's power plant is mixed, it includes a Rolls-Royce MT-30 gas turbine engine, four MTU diesel generators and two electric motors powered by the ship's propellers. The maximum speed is over 26 knots. The cruising range is over 7000 nautical miles. Autonomy up to 60 days. The crew of the ship consists of 157 people, while on board there are accommodations for 208 crew members. They will have at their disposal living quarters, a gym, lounges, a canteen, as well as medical facilities, with the possibility of providing both routine medical care and emergency assistance to the wounded as a result of emergencies or in combat conditions.
At the stern of the frigate, there will be equipment designed for launching unmanned boats, inflatable boats with a rigid hull or a towed GAS. The towed sonar system will increase the efficiency of the ship's actions in the fight against enemy submarines (active and passive detection), and will also solve the problem of warning the crew about a torpedo threat. In addition to the powerful towed GAS, the ship will also have an in-hull GAS located in the bow buoy. In the middle of the hull, there is a payload compartment and a covered hangar. An important feature of the project is the presence of the so-called "modular compartment" (payload compartment), which can accommodate various equipment or weapons, depending on the tasks to be solved, in particular, it is possible to accommodate standard containers 10x20 feet (ISO), boats and unmanned vehicles.
On its large flight deck, the frigate will be able to accommodate a heavy helicopter the size of a military transport Boeing CH-47 Chinook, and a medium-sized helicopter, for example, an AgustaWestland Merlin medium-duty helicopter, can be accommodated in the hangar. It will also be possible to place an unmanned aerial vehicle on board, which will increase the frigate's reconnaissance capabilities and target designation capabilities. In the standard version, the frigate's air group may consist of one AW-101 Merlin anti-submarine helicopter and one AW-159 Wildcat multi-purpose helicopter capable of carrying anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.
Among the principal weapon innovations on the City-class frigates, the appearance of the Sea Ceptor small / medium-range air defense system can be distinguished. It is known that the Royal Navy completed tests of the new Sea Ceptor anti-aircraft missiles at the end of December 2017. The development of missiles of this system is being carried out by MBDA, commissioned by the UK Department of Defense as part of the Future Local Area Air Defense System (FLAADS) project. It is reported that the new Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) anti-aircraft guided missile of this complex will be able to reach speeds of up to 3500 km / h, intercepting various air objects, including supersonic missiles. The initial version provides for the possibility of hitting air targets at a range of up to 25 kilometers, but by the time the first Type 26 frigates are commissioned, new missiles with a target range of more than 40 kilometers should be ready. It is assumed that the ships will have up to 48 cells for the installation of missiles.
It is also known that the frigates will receive American vertical launchers Mk 41 with 24 cells to accommodate various strike weapons. It is possible to use American Tomahawk cruise missiles, ASROC anti-submarine missiles and LRASM anti-ship missiles. It will also be possible to accommodate the Sea Ceptor missiles with 4 missiles in one cell.
The ship's artillery armament will undergo changes compared to other warships of the British Navy. The standard British 114mm Mk 8 naval cannon will be replaced by the new 127mm Mk 45 Mod 4 universal artillery mount developed by BAE Systems. It is a 127 mm artillery mount with a 62 caliber barrel length and a firing range of up to 20 nautical miles (36 km). As noted on the website of BAE Systems, promising smart ammunition can also be used with it. In addition, the ship's artillery armament will be represented by two automatic 30-mm cannons DS30M Mk 2 and two 20-mm 6-barreled anti-aircraft guns Phalanx CIWS. In addition, machine-gun armament will also be placed on board, which seems useful, given the wide range of tasks of promising frigates: from participation in high-intensity military conflicts to fighting piracy and ensuring safe navigation in dangerous areas of the world's oceans.
Comparing the British project of the promising frigate "Type 26" with the Russian developments, one can oppose it with the currently developed project of the frigate 22350M, which in the future should become the main Russian warship of the far sea and ocean zone. Their construction is planned to be carried out within the framework of the state armament program for 2018-2027. They will differ in increased size and displacement (about 8 thousand tons versus 5.4 thousand tons of full displacement for Project 22350 frigates), as well as more powerful weapons. The ships will carry up to 80 missiles of various types, including the modern Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles.
127-mm universal artillery mount Mk 45 Mod 4
Experts note that the capabilities of the Royal Navy in relation to its main partners or rivals have been continuously diminishing throughout the post-war period (meaning the time after the end of World War II). With the deduction of the strategic nuclear forces (which are supported primarily through cooperation with Washington), the general purpose forces of the British Navy are inferior in a number of their parameters even to the Italian fleet. The leadership of the British Navy has repeatedly complained about the impossibility of repeating operations such as the Falklands War of 1982, if the need arises again. In fact, at present, the Royal Navy is relatively small in terms of its forces and capabilities, its combat effectiveness is greatly reduced by the lack of funding and a fairly large proportion of non-ready and faulty ships.
London is going to increase the combat potential of its fleet in several ways. First of all, due to the commissioning of two new modern large aircraft carriers. The lead ship, Queen Elizabeth, is currently undergoing combat training. Achievement of combat readiness is planned to be achieved by 2020, when the ship will receive its air group, consisting of the fifth generation F-35B Lightning II fighter-bombers of American production. It is planned that the aircraft carrier "Queen Elizabeth" will be focused on conducting "classic" aircraft carrier operations, and the second aircraft carrier of the Prince of Wales series will be used rather as a "commando carrier" - a ship for the delivery of special forces and air support for their operations.
At the same time, the main problem of the British Navy is called the shortage of warships of the main classes - out of 6 destroyers and 13 frigates, more than two and four ships are rarely on alert, respectively. It is assumed that it will be possible to rectify the situation in the first case by improving the maintenance and modernization of existing ships, and in the second case, by building a new generation of frigates, which will begin to be part of the fleet in the 2020s. It is assumed that in addition to 8 City-class frigates in the future, the British fleet will receive about 10 frigates of slightly smaller dimensions, sharpened primarily to fight enemy surface ships.
The successful implementation of these plans largely depends on which of the trends in British politics turns out to be stronger. On the one hand, economic problems have more than once become the reason for the curtailment of naval programs aimed at updating the fleet of ships, on the other hand, “the need to confront new challenges”, primarily in the person of the Russian Federation, requires a tangible increase in the country's defense spending. Especially considering the nervous reaction of the British media to any appearance of Russian ships flying the St. Andrew's flag off the coast of Great Britain.
Much more funding will be needed if England wants to restore the Royal Navy's "global presence" capabilities. This, of course, is not about achieving the capabilities of the American fleet, however, London will categorically need the ability to project force in different regions of the world - in addition to aircraft carriers, this is the need to build landing ships and supply ships, as well as a fairly large number of modern frigates and destroyers that will be able to to support the main forces of the fleet away from the English shores. In the meantime, the British Navy is mainly able to solve problems only near its coast, and the country no longer claims the status of "Lady of the Seas" and the above-mentioned "global presence". Perhaps the ongoing programs for the construction of new warships will help change the current state of affairs.
The performance characteristics of the Type 26 frigates (data from baesystems.com):
Length - 149.9 m.
Width - 20.8 m.
Displacement - 6900 tons.
The maximum speed is over 26 knots.
The cruising range is over 7000 nautical miles.
Crew - 157 people (expandable up to 208 people).
