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Clyde shipyards will start Norway frigates before Navy order finished

PA Media A warship, face on, at a shipyardPA Media
The first of the new Type 26 are being fitted out in Glasgow

Shipyards in Glasgow will start building some Type-26 frigates for Norway before completing construction of an eight-ship order of the same warships for the Royal Navy.

Five of the advanced anti-submarine ships are at various stages of construction at BAE Systems yards on the River Clyde, with work yet to begin on a further three.

Last summer it was announced that Norway had placed a £10bn order for at least five Type 26 frigates, described as the biggest warship export deal in UK history.

Defence Minister Luke Pollard said that some build slots "have been ceded as part of the Norwegian deal" but he said the Royal Navy would still receive its full complement of eight ships.

In a written answer in the House of Commons he said additional orders would be placed to make up the total to eight, as part of the Defence Investment Plan.

Pollard previously said that building Norwegian ships before finishing the UK order would not affect the UK's defence capability, according to UK Defence Journal which first reported the story.

A week ago he told MPs the Royal Navy and Norwegian ships would operate as a "truly interoperable, interchangeable force".

He said: "The only difference between a Royal Navy Type 26 and a Norwegian Type 26 will be the language on the signs.

"That interchangeability is at the heart of the new defence agreement that we have signed with Norway."

PA Media A large grey warship arriving at a shipyard on a riverPA Media
HMS Glasgow, arriving at the Scotstoun yard, after it was "floated off" in 2022

The first of the new class of warship entered the Clyde at Govan in late 2022 and is currently being fitted at BAE's Scotstoun yard on the opposite bank of the river, and is due to enter service in two years' time.

The second Type 26 frigate HMS Cardiff is also at Scotstoun, while HMS Belfast is being constructed inside the new huge assembly hall at Govan along with HMS Birmingham.

Steel cutting for a fifth ship, HMS Sheffield, began in late 2024.

The Type 26 frigates - also known as City Class frigates - are large, highly specialised anti‑submarine ships designed to protect the UK's carrier groups.

They are fitted with advanced sonar, radar and submarine hunting helicopters.

The combined Royal Navy and Norwegian orders are expected to sustain naval shipbuilding on the Clyde well into the 2030s.

The two Glasgow shipyards employ more than 3,000 workers.