Cammell Laird and BAE Systems announced an agreement to collaborate on the construction of Royal Navy’s future Type 31 frigates.
Commercial shipbuilder Cammell Laird would act as prime contractor while BAE Systems would be supplying its warship design and combat systems expertise.
The teaming agreement has been formed in response to the UK defense ministry’s request for information and will now be part of a competitive tender process.
Cammell Laird CEO John Syvret said the company is proposing an innovative frigate design, known as ‘Leander’, based on existing and proven BAE Systems’ naval ship designs.
“Our commercial approach to design selection on merit ensures that Leander meets the T31e requirements with a high level of adaptability to attract the widest range of international customers,” he said.
Syvret further said the Cammell Laird consortium will include the A&P Group of shipyards and members of the broader UK supply chain. He said this approach has proved successful in the construction of the £150million new artic survey vessel the RSS Sir David Attenborough, currently being built at Cammell Laird.
The defense ministry expects the first ships to be in service by 2023, built under a price cap of £250M each for the first batch of five frigates.
The Type 31 frigate will replace five of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates. The other eight Type 23s are already set to be replaced by the upcoming Type 26 class.