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HRH Prince William Cuts steel on 3rd Type 26 Frigate

David Dunlop, 14 July 2021

Prince William photographed at BAE Systems' shipyard in Govan, Scotland, during the steel-cutting ceremony for the third Type 26 frigate, the future HMS Belfast.

At the end of June, Prince William cut the first steel on HMS Belfast, the third ship in an eight-ship BAE Type 26 build. Belfast is being built under a GBP 3.7 billion (CAD 6.39 billion) contract awarded to BAE Systems in June 2017 for the first three of a planned class of eight ships. A contract for the second batch of five ships is expected in the early 2020s, with ship deliveries projected to run through to the mid-2030s.  According to BAE Systems, work on the first two ships is progressing well. First-of-class HMS Glasgow, on which production was started in July 2017, was rolled out of the build hall in recent weeks. Meanwhile, about 40% of the units for second-in-class HMS Cardiff, which was started in August 2019, are in build, the shipyard said.  Under original timelines the lead ship was expected to enter service in the early 2020s. Delays to the program, however, mean that HMS Glasgow is now expected to enter service in 2027, followed by the second and third ships at intervals of up to 18 months. At this rate, the first three Type 26 Frigates will either be in-service or ready for trials well ahead of the first Canadian Surface Combatant Frigate build start. When will the CSC Type 26 Frigate design phase be completed and contracts signed? God and the Canadian Government are the only ones who know and they're not talking. So much unnecessary secrecy!

Carry on the conversation on the Broadsides Forum.

Current CNR issue

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Volume 17, Number 1 (2021)

We said in the last preview that Canadians started the year 2021 both discouraged and hopeful. A few months later, things have gotten worse in some places and better in others. So we continue to be both discouraged and hopeful.

The Spring issue starts with an Editorial that is about sexual misconduct in the military, a topic much in the news. In the Editorial, CNR Editor Dr. Ann Griffiths also illustrates discouragement and hope – discouragement that once again we’re hearing about sexual misconduct, and hope that the Canadian Armed Forces will finally address the problem.

Following the Editorial are four very interesting articles.

We start with an article that asks what the future holds for naval mine warfare. The article discusses this question by examining mine warfare and how it will fit into future maritime conflict, noting the inattention paid to naval mine warfare by Western navies. The second article discusses how the Canadian Armed Forces have embarked on an incremental and phased approach to improving anti-submarine warfare readiness. The third article takes CNR where it has never gone before – to the topic of Artificial Intelligence and how AI can be used by the RCN in the near term. The final article discusses the implications for Canadian politics and sovereignty of the incorporation of the US-developed Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) on the Canadian Surface Combatants. Because this article raised debate among those who saw a preview of it, we included two commentaries in Making Waves that respond to it.

And, speaking of commentaries, we include an interesting discussion of operations and sustainment costs for the future Canadian Surface Combatant. In another commentary, we return to the discussion of whether Canada should consider a landing ship for infantry. We include discussion of the re-invigorated ‘Quad’ in the Asia-Pacific region, hospital ships and shipbuilding. In other words, the Spring issue is full of amazing material – illustrated with beautiful photos.

If you don’t have a subscription yet, you should get one so you don’t miss anything. Keep your eyes on the CNR Twitter account for details (CdnNavalReview). And see the full table of contents below.

The full table of contents is below.

Table of Contents - Vol. 17, No. 1 (2021)

  • Editorial: One More Time: Sexual Misconduct in the CAF - by Ann Griffiths
  • The Science of Vague Assumptions: The Sea Mine and Its Future - by Lieutenant (N) Sebastian Harper
  • Modernizing Anti-Submarine Warfare: A Systematic Journey - by Commander Chris M. Devita
  • Artificial Intelligence: How Can the RCN Benefit in the Near Term? - by Megan Martins Da Ponte
  • Canada-US Defence Relations and the CSC: A Ship Too Far? - by Dan Middlemiss and Denis Stairs
  • Making Waves
    • In Response to Middlemiss-Stairs Article - by Hugh Segal
    • Comments on “A Ship too Far?” - by Poseidon
    • Long-Term Operations and Sustainment Costs for the CSC - by Mikaël Perron
    • The LSI(A): An Arctic Sovereignty Protection Option? - by Major (Ret’d) Les Mader
  • A View from the West: The Quad 2.0 and Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region - by Jocelyn Sandhu
  • Dollars and Sense: Shipbuilding, Moving Forward - by Dave Perry
  • Warship Developments: Hospital Ships - by Doug Thomas
  • Book Reviews

Previous CNR issue

Volume 16, Number 3 (2021)

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CNR resources

Read more: CNR Archives (50+ magazines in PDF) and Subject Index (500+ articles)

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