dmereifield wrote:Positive: if the MCM mothership (T32) is also escort capable (I.e. T31 or better) then we have more flexibility and more combat capable ships
Jdam wrote:Hopefully I can be educated here but could the Type 26 be used for the Type 32 concept, my thinking is that we already have the design or is the Type 26 not suitable for the mother ship role?
This doesn't seem overly complicated, although the PM's typically sloppy semantics haven't helped.
-> When Boris refered to frigates he meant escorts.
-> The Type 32 is not going to be a MCM mothership, it's going to be a frigate. That's why it's called a Type 32 frigate.
-> We only know the Type 32's name and the intention they will be built following on from the Type 31 and therefore in parallel with the later Type 26.
-> We can possibly assume the intention is to build five, based purely on the number it would take to get to an overall escort force of 24 (we need to also count the six Type 45 destroyers).
Develop the next generation of naval vessels,
including Type 32 frigates and Fleet Solid Support
ships, and deliver our plans for eight Type 26 and
five Type 31 frigates.
Annex A Page 103
-> We don't know what, if anything, is intended to replace the MCMs. It's not mentioned in the Integrated Review at all.
Hopefully we will get more detailes when the plans to modernise the MoD and military follow on March 22.
The belief that the Type 32 will be a MCM mothership or any other kind of mothership arise purely from one Parliamentary written answer given on November 20 last year. But parliamentary written answers are notoriously vague and short on detail, which unfortunately means they can be spun to mean just about anything the reader wants them to mean.
What was said was:
“The programme and procurement strategy for Type 32 will be decided following the concept phase, which has not yet been launched. Further work is required to develop the operational concept however it is envisioned that Type 32 will be a platform for autonomous systems, adding to the Navy’s capabilities for missions such as anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures.”