From the latest copy of desider. Also information on how many T45s will be operational at any one time (5 apparently at "different levels of
readiness").
Future vessels are set for early service
FUTURE SURFACE Combatant (FSC) - the replacement for the Royal Navy's current frigates - is expected to be introduced earlier than originally planned.
The vessels are likely to be the most versatile surface combatants ever procured for the UK fleet. The FSC will replace Type 22 and Type 23 Frigates.
On current plans the ships will be optimised for anti-submarine warfare and land attack, with the first ship expected to come into service towards the end of
the next decade.
The news comes as the MOD announced on 9 June that it did not intend to take up the option to order the seventh and eighth T45 destroyers.
"The Future Surface Combatant will be an extremely versatile class of warship," said Commodore Graham Peach, head of Directorate Surface
Combatants within DE&S' DG Ships, the team delivering FSC.
"They will be capable of being deployed around the world to project power ashore from the sea and to enable the carrier strike and littoral manoeuvre
forces to enter an operations area unhindered. It will form the backbone of the Royal Navy's surface combatant force alongside the new Type 45s for much of
this century."
The long-running project will now see a large number of equipment teams and IPTs at DE&S involved in the project.
"Current assumptions are that the FSC classes will be fitted with a medium calibre gun, a wide range of other weapons and the associated above and underwater sensors," said Lt Cdr David Roberts, the project's requirements manager.
Project manager Stuart Machin added: "Concept work is being undertaken by the Naval Design Partnership. Affordability will be at the core of FSC; working closely with industry we must avoid over-specification, requirements change and complicated acceptance regimes and deliver the most effective solution within the available budget."
Bringing forward the FSC programme, together with the Carrier and Astute programmes, will balance workload across maritime programmes to ensure retention
of key capabilities, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth told Parliament.
He added that for a fleet of six Type 45s, one ship would usually be in deep maintenance, leaving up to five available for deployment at various states of
readiness.
