£3.7bn contract to build Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigates

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has announced the signing of a contract worth around £3.7 billion to start building the Royal Navy’s Type 26 Frigates.

The warships, which specialise in anti-submarine warfare, will protect the nation’s nuclear deterrent and the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, including HMS Queen Elizabeth which has recently taken to sea for the first time.

Fallon is confident that the contract, which reaffirms the government’s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review commitment to build eight Type 26 ships, will secure approximately 1,700 skilled shipbuilding jobs in Scotland and a further 1,700 jobs throughout the supply chain across Britain until 2035.

Fallon said: “The Type 26 Frigate is a cutting-edge warship, combining the expertise of the British shipbuilding industry with the excellence of the Royal Navy. We will cut steel on the first ship later this month – a hugely significant milestone that delivers on our commitment to maintain our global naval power. These ships will be a force to be reckoned with, there to protect our powerful new carriers and helping keep British interests safe across the world.

“Backed by a rising defence budget and a £178 billion Equipment Plan, the Type 26 programme will bring vast economic benefits to Scotland and the wider UK. The contract is structured to ensure value for taxpayers’ money and, importantly, now designed to protect them from extra bills from project overrun. The investment will secure hundreds of skilled jobs at BAE Systems on the Clyde for the next twenty years, and thousands of jobs in the supply chain across Britain.”