"Royal Navy down to 5 frigates." Topic

HMS Iron Duke done for.

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Only a few less than the Defence Secretary claimed.
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Sad really, even us Aussies have seven and the ADF are always fighting for kit.

The article really neglects to say that this issue is short term. The Type 23s are old and with the Type 26s and Type 31s coming on line soon, it is not good value to extend the life of these old ships.
Life seems to have become a series of half truths to make political points.

Thanks, Martyn. I defer to you as an informed Brit, but I thought this was the case. Hard to imagine the RN reduced to 5 frigates.

Strange times.

I just hope they move something down to the Falklands as a deterrent.

Cheap drones are going to change naval warfare in the next few decades. I suspect frigates with lots of drones will be a more cost effective way to patrol and project power than big ships and missiles.

How long is short term?

Do you agree that not ordering any frigate for 20 years was not a good decision?

I read an article several days ago that said RN sailors that have graduated training don't have ships to report to. I assume that this mostly applies to seagoing rates since a number of rates can get a lot of shore duty.

Not trying to argue, just asking questions from the other side of the pond.

79th PA. A good question. If you had asked me 20 years ago if not ordering a new frigate to arrive in the fleet for another 20 years was a good idea, I would have agreed that it was not a good idea.

But, where we are today, I think that as others have alluded, small modern frigates with drones and other advanced technology are going to be the way to go. Having all these new, highly capable frigates coming on line in a few years is going to be great news for the RN. It looks like it was a smart move, made for all the wrong reasons. I would not have made the same decision, but it looks to have turned out well.

For the next couple of years, the RN is going to be Frigate light, but they do operate frequently with European partners. So contributions to task forces is going to be the way to go short term.

Let us also not forget that the RN destroyers are extremely capable – one of the best, if not the best air defense destroyer out there.
Over the past 20 years having a destroyer focused Navy has been the way of things, not just for the RN, but also the US Navy. I think that the only true frigate in the US Navy is a sail boat (all be it one that sank some RN ships). Maybe it can be claimed that the LCS are frigate substitutes, but that is not a position I would want to defend.