The Royal Navy, which has been planning to replace its Type 23-class frigates since 1998,
is now very close to achieving its goal with HMS Glaskow. This Type 26-class surface combatant,
which is still under construction, has a different design than the conventional frigate. With
its unusual design, the Type 26 managed to win two important international tenders by
outperforming other strong competitors in the market. It means that the world needs
a different frigate than conventional ones. As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating
the Type 26, the future surface combatant. Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel
before we start. As a fruit of the Global Combat Ship Programme,
the Type 26-class frigates have a long history, although they have not been launched yet.
The programme began in 1998, under what was then known as the Future Surface Combatant.
There were several reasons to start at such an early date.
First of all, the French frigate La Fayette had started a new trend in the design of the
surface combatant with its stealth design. The frigates and destroyers of the Royal Navy
in those years were becoming obsolete in this new trend.
With the end of the First Cold War, it was now a luxury to have more than one class frigate
built for different missions. That's why all the navies of the world started to turn to
general-purpose surface combatants. Finally, although the Type 23s were new, the
Type 22s were slowly coming to the end of their economic life.
However, a possible Third World War was no longer on the agenda. This caused the programme
to slow for two reasons. First, the UK now found it unnecessary to allocate a significant
part of the budget to defence spending. Secondly, the new world was uncertain, and in this uncertainty,
it was almost impossible to determine what characteristics the new frigate should have.
Actually, the UK worked on some innovative ideas, after Future Surface Combatant Programme
started. For example, in 1998, RV Triton was ordered to study whether a trimaran design
was practical for such a large and complex vessel for trial purposes. However, the Royal
Navy demanded more conventional designs. Towards the end of the 2000s, the replacement
of the Type 22 and the Type 23-classes began to become urgent.
So, the programme had evolved to become the Global Combat Ship in 2010. Demonstration
Phase started, five years later. The steel cut for HMS Glasgow, the first of the Tip
26-class, was performed on July 20, 2017. Since the Leander-class, the UK has had difficulty
selling newly built frigates on the international market.
Foreign users of the Type 21, Type 22, and Type 23-classes took the ships that the Royal
Navy decommissioned from into their inventory. But the Type 26 was preferred by Australia
before it even launched. Canada has also decided to develop a Type
26 based ship for the new frigate requirement. These two countries will build their ships
in their own shipyards. The main role of the frigate is to conduct
anti-submarine warfare and local area air defence operations.
But it can perform other missions such as counter piracy, counter terrorism, and humanitarian
and disaster relief as well as land and surface attack.
Naturally, a ship capable of meeting such a wide range of missions had to be large.
With nearly 9,000 full loaded displacement it is something else rather than conventional
frigate. The large structure also provides an important advantage in the integration
of new systems that are still being developed and are likely to be developed in the future.
The core crew of the Type 26 will be 118-person. But the frigate will have the room for a total
of 208. Thus, the Type 26 will be able to carry large
number of civilians to be evacuated or special operation forces crew, when there will be
a possible need. Thanks to its big structure, the ship will
have up to 60 days of endurance, while today's conventional frigates have generally 30 days
of endurance. The standard displacement of the Type 26 is
6,900 tons. Fully loaded displacement is expected to be close to 9,000 tons. The frigate has
nearly 150 metres length, 21 metres beam. The combine diesel-electric or gas configuration
propulsion system consist of one Rolls-Royce MT30 gas turbine, four MTU Type 20V 4000 M53B
high-speed diesel generators, and two electric motors. The maximum speed of the Type 26 is
over 26 knots. With its economical speed, the ship can reach the range of 13,000 kilometres.
The armament of the frigate consists of 48-cell vertical launching system for Sea Ceptor air
defence missiles, 24-cell additional vertical launching system for land and surface attack
missiles, one 127mm gun, two Phalanx close-in weapon systems, and two DS30M Mk 2 remotely
controlled weapon station, as well as two miniguns and for machine guns. The Type 26
has a large hanger and flight deck for two helicopters.
Australia's Type 26, defined as Hunter-class, will have 180-person crew and speed 27 plus
knots, unlike the British model. Also, some weapon systems will be different.
The changes in the Canadian model have not been announced yet. But they will be in general-purpose
configuration. There are a large integrated mission bay and
hangar located amidship, enabling a variety of missions and associated equipment. By the
mission definition, the Type 26 will able to carry four rigid-hull inflatable boat,
unmanned surface vehicles, or containers in this bay.
The Type 997 Artisan radar of the ship can detect objects as small as a tennis ball and
travelling at speed of Mach 3 more than 25 kilometres away. It can monitor more than
900 objects simultaneously from 200 to 200,000 metres. By these features, the Type 997 Artisan
makes the Type 26 approximately five times more efficient than its predecessor the Type
23. The frigate will carry 48 Sea Ceptor air defence
missiles which are launched vertically. Additional 24-cell vertical launching system is positioned
forward of the bridge for surface and land attack missiles. But these cells will be able
to be equipped with quad packed Sea Ceptors. So, depend on mission definition the Type
26 can carry 144 air defence missiles. The Sea Ceptor is the naval version of the
Common Anti-Air Modular Missile, shortly CAMM, series. It was developed by MBDA as the replacement
of the Sea Wolf and the Rapier missiles of the British Armed Forces.
Unlike Western concepts based on attacking a ship with one or two missiles, in the East,
there is a concept based on attacking with more missiles than the close-in weapon systems
and decoys can cope with. This type of attack is named as saturation attack.
The Sea Ceptor is designed to defend against saturation attacks of supersonic anti-ship
missile. It does this via multiple channels of fire, providing 360-degree simultaneous
coverage and high degrees of manoeuvrability. The Sea Ceptor has effective range between
less than 1 kilometre and greater than 25 kilometres. The maximum range of the extended
range version of the missile is about 45 kilometres. The speed of the Sea Ceptor is Mach 3.
The Hunter-class frigates of the Royal Australian Navy will be equipped with the RIM-162 ESSM
and the RIM-66 Standard 2 air defence missiles, instead of the Sea Ceptor.
The Type 26’s 24-cell vertical launching system is positioned forward of the bridge
for surface and land attack missiles. For land attack the ship will carry Tomahawk
cruise missile. Thus, the Type 26 will be able to be used against a land target located
2,500 kilometres far. The data released by BAE Systems and the Royal
Navy does not include which anti-ship missile to be equipped with the Type 26.
However, it is known that both Australia and the UK are interested in AGM-158C Long Range
Anti-Ship Missile, shortly LRASM. This missile was developed by the USA for modern surface
combatants. Its range is greater than 370 kilometres nearly twice of the Harpoon’s.
Thanks to its intelligent software and advanced sensors, the LRASM can discriminate the enemy
ships from decoys, or other vessels in the area.
The missile has low radar cross section airframe, low infrared signature, and does not emit
signals. It is also capable of attacking land targets.
Different from the UK, Australia announced that their Type 26s will be equipped with
two four-canister Harpoon missile launchers. The Type 26 has an acoustically quiet hull
for anti-submarine warfare. It is fitted with the Type 2150 next generation bow sonar and
a powerful Sonar 2087 towed array. In the data announced, the torpedo tubes are
not visible on the ship. But probably the Type 26 will be equipped with these systems.
In fact, the ship launched lightweight torpedoes has little meaning today. In a possible combat,
an enemy submarine that managed to be within range of these 324mm torpedoes would have
fired its own deadly 533mm long-range torpedoes to sink the frigate.
Therefore, in modern naval warfare, it is imperative to intercept the submarine from
helicopters at a much greater distance. Yet, Australia has announced that it will
place MU-90 torpedoes on its ships. Having preferred the local 114mm gun for many
years the UK has decided to equip the Type 26 with the 127mm gun. This is a wise decision.
114mm is no longer common. This would cause long-term problems in the production of ammunition
and spare parts. In addition, the USA and Italy are developing
modern ammunition for 127mm guns. Thus, the UK would be free from spending money to develop
114mm ammunition with similar capabilities. It should also be noted that the production
rights of the US Mk 45 gun to be used in Type 26 passed to the UK based BAE Systems company
years ago. The Type 26 is equipped with the Mk 15 Phalanx
close-in weapon systems. The six-barrel gun of the system has 4,500 rounds per minute
rate of fire. But its effective range is only about 1,500 metres.
This range is inadequate to the new generation of supersonic and hypersonic Russian missiles.
Even if the Phalanx manages to kill these missiles, shrapnel can reach and damage the
ship from a range of 1,500 meters. Along with other NATO countries, the UK now
should consider longer range close-in weapon systems.
For example, Rheinmetall's 35mm Millennium system. With its 1000 rounds per minute rate
of fire and 35mm programmable Ahead ammunition, this system is highly effective at the greater
range. In addition, ASELSAN is working on a 35mm
system called the Korkut-D. This gun also has the ability to fire programmable ammunition.
In fact, Leonardo has taken an important step to respond to the future naval combat needs
with the 76mm Strales system, which is effective at a much longer range.
For the Type 26, which can easily adapt to innovations with its modular structure, it
will be useful to consider these weapon systems. The DS30M Mark 2 system of the frigate consists
of a gyro stabilized 30mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II gun with an off-mount electro-optical director.
The effective range of the DS30M Mark 2 is 5,100 metres. It is used against nearby small
surface targets. The flight deck of the Type 26 is suitable
for the Chinook cargo helicopter. In standard operation, the frigate carries
two Wildcat or Merlin helicopters. The hangar also has space to accommodate the
unmanned aerial vehicles. Thanks to this flexibility, Type 26's air
power can be easily configured for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, special forces,
search and rescue, and humanitarian missions. In their Type 26, Australia will deploy MH-60R
helicopters and Canada will deploy CH-148 Cyclone helicopters.
The Type 26 has very close displacement with Type 45 destroyer of the Royal Navy and it
is heavier than Hobart-class destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy.
Yet its speed is low to be a destroyer. So, the Type 26 can be described as new class
of surface combatant which the western navies need. It is natural that this new type of
ship attracts the attention of many countries that have an interest in the oceans. It is
the biggest advantage of Type 26 that it can meet future needs with its structure open
to development. This frigate is one of the most sound answers the West gives to the East
in the days when the Second Cold War is rising. Thanks for watching our new video. And please
don't forget to subscribe to our channel.