Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps has his Department taken to ensure that construction of the Common Combat Vessels outlined in the Defence Investment Plan is timed to coincide with the completion of orders of the Type-31 frigate program.

Common Combat Vessel (CCV) will be the Royal Navy’s first ‘Hybrid’ warship, coordinating uncrewed systems in the air, on the surface and under the sea to deliver more resilient air defence at the centre of the Hybrid Navy. Whilst the CCV remains in the initial stages of design, the Navy’s aspiration is to sequence the arrival of the CCV and wider Hybrid Navy Integrated Air and Missile Defence capability with the out of service dates of the T45s in the mid-2030s onwards.

There are options for hull forms we are exploring and announcements will be made in the usual way as the project progresses.