Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out the timeline for procuring the next generation of Royal Navy frigates.

The Type 31e Frigate programme was launched on 7 September 2017, and is currently in its pre-procurement phase. We plan to formally start the competitive process in 2018 and award a single design and build contract in 2019, allowing us to trial and accept the first ship into service in 2023.

We awarded the £3.7 billion contract to manufacture the first batch of three Type 26 Frigates in June 2017 and cut steel on the first ship, HMS GLASGOW, in July. We expect HMS GLASGOW to be structurally complete in the early 2020s, and to enter service in the mid-2020s.

The procurement of the remaining five Type 26 Frigates will be subject to a separate approval and contract, which on current plans will be in the early 2020s.