BAE Systems rolls out aft block of UK Navy’s first Type 26 frigate

BAE Systems has unveiled the aft block of the UK Royal Navy’s first City-class Type 26 frigate HMS Glasgow.

The aft block comprises the mission bay and hangar, which can support helicopters, boats, mission loads and disaster relief stores.

It was joined together with the forward block at BAE’s Govan shipyard on the River Clyde, revealing HMS Glasgow’s full size and scale for the first time.

BAE said that the flight deck of the frigate can land a Chinook helicopter for transport of embarked forces.

To bring the aft block out of the ship block into position to combine with the forward block, BAE’s Govan shipyard teams prepared and completed a set of complex manoeuvres.

The Type 26 advanced anti-submarine ships are designed to adapt to changing missions and provide required manpower and capabilities to meet challenges.

Each ship will be fitted with the Sea Ceptor missile defence system, a five-inch medium calibre gun, flexible mission bay, Artisan 997 Medium Range Radar, as well as towed array sonars.

Last July, BAE Systems announced new supply chain contracts worth over £100m as part of the Royal Navy’s Type 26 frigate programme.

The programme is supporting more than 4,000 jobs across the UK.

Set to replace the UK’s Type 23 frigates, the Type 26 ships are the original variant of the company’s Global Combat Ship (GCS).

Australia and Canada have both selected BAE Systems’ Type 26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) as the reference design for their anti-submarine frigate programmes.