The United Kingdom will need to place additional orders for Type 26 frigates after the government confirmed that construction slots currently allocated to the Royal Navy are being transferred to Norway.
According to UK Defence Journal, this move has left a previously unaddressed gap that will be considered in the next Defence Investment Plan.
The information emerged in a parliamentary response from the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Luke Pollard, on April 22. According to him, 13 frigates were ordered between 2010 and 2024 under the Type 26 and Type 31 programs.
He also stated that “a number” of Type 26 slots “were ceded as part of the Norwegian agreement” and that “the delta has not yet been addressed through additional orders, and this will be a consideration in the Defence Investment Plan.”
The transfer was first officially confirmed in February, when Pollard told Parliament that the UK was “working closely with our Norwegian partners” and “assessing options to offer Type 26 construction slots currently allocated to the Royal Navy to the Royal Norwegian Navy.”
At the time, Pollard confirmed that the Royal Navy’s total would not be reduced, stating that “the Royal Navy will receive all eight Type 26 ships in the late 2020s and 2030s, as planned.” However, the delivery of eight vessels to Norway was widely questioned at the time, particularly given increased Russian activity in the region.
Pollard said the agreement with Norway was “part of a broader arrangement on how we can work more closely with our allies in the Joint Expeditionary Force in Northern Europe,” and that he expected it “could be expanded to other nations as we seek to sell Type 31 frigates to more of our partners.”
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