The Royal Navy’s latest frigate will be delayed by a year and cost taxpayers an extra £233milion, the Defence Secretary has admitted.
The Type 26, City-class, Global Combat Ship is being built in Scotland and will replace the ageing Type 23 Duke-class fleet.
The first vessel of the six-strong submarine-hunting fleet, HMS Glasgow, was due to enter service in October 2027.
But Cabinet Minister Mr Wallace blamed the coronavirus pandemic and other “challenges” for a 12-month delay.
“Due to the impact of Covid-19, where the Govan yard was required to shut down for a number of weeks, and challenges typical of those experienced with the first of class ship, including finalising the ship design and timely delivery of key new to service equipment, the Department is forecasting a 12-month delay to the Type 26 initial operating capability from October 2027 to October 2028,” he said in a written parliamentary statement.
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“The resultant cost growth for the Ministry of Defence is 4.2% over forecast, which is £233m over the life of the programme.”
Once built, the ships will protect the Navy’s two, £6.2billion, 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and four Vanguard submarines, which carry the Trident nuclear missile system.
Quizzed by the Commons Defence Select Committee tonight, Mr Wallace said he was “pretty upset” by the delay.
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard, who represents what is due to be the frigates’ home port of Plymouth, said: “These frigates will be world class, but with old ships coming out of service earlier due to Conservative cuts, these delays create worrying capability gaps for our armed forces.
“The military procurement system is broken and costing the taxpayer millions more. Ministers need to get a grip of defence procurement programmes fast.”
