ROYAL NAVY GETS GREEN LIGHT ON FRIGATES, SUBS

Britain's Royal Navy has the government's green light to get a new generation of frigates and two more nuclear attack submarines, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth told Parliament, writes Defense News.

BAE Systems Surface Ships has a four-year, 127 million pound ($189 million) contract for assessment work on the Type 26 frigate, which is to replace Type 22 and 23 warships. The first Type 26 is to enter service around the start of the 2020s.

Part of the Future Surface Combatant program, the Type 26s will be used primarily to ward off submarines and support land warfare. Expected to displace around 6,000 tons, the warship may carry vertically launched precision strike and anti-air missiles, and include a mission bay on the stern to launch small boats, unmanned vehicles and special forces.

A second element of the FSC program, a general-purpose warship, is in the concept planning stage.

Last month, an MoD official said the ministry was holding talks with Australia and New Zealand about cooperating on the FSC program.

The MoD has also received approval to move ahead with the fifth and sixth Astute-class nuclear attack submarines. The government stopped short of giving full construction go-ahead to the two vessels but said it is providing 300 million pounds split roughly evenly for initial construction - primarily early steelwork - on boat five and long-lead procurement activities for boat six.

The MoD has already spent close to 150 million pounds on long-lead items for boat five.

The Astute submarines cost around 1 billion pounds each. The first of class, HMS Astute, is presently undergoing sea trials; it is to be handed to the Royal Navy later this year.

A seventh Astute-class boat is planned for the Royal Navy, although the government hasn't officially committed to purchasing it.

Still, union leaders from Barrow-in-Furness, where Britain's nuclear submarines are built, met defense procurement minister Quentin Davies earlier this week and were told the government is committed to building seven Astutes.

A final decision on the seventh boat will likely have to await a defense review planned after a general election expected for early May.

In a third maritime-related deal, the MoD said it had signed a 15-year strategic business agreement with Babcock International covering surface warships and nuclear submarine support. The deal extends Babcock's management roles at Clyde and Devonport naval bases, and covers engineering on major warships and nuclear submarines.

The naval contract announcements are the second time this week the government has revealed major defense contracts. Earlier, they named General Dynamics UK as the winner of a specialist armored vehicles deal for the British Army that could eventually be worth billion of pounds. They also said they were buying three Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft from the U.S. government to replace the Royal Air Forces retiring fleet of Nimrod R1 aircraft. A further round of defense orders are expected from the government next week ahead of an announcement of a date for the general election.

Original article by Andrew Chuter for Defense News.