Royal Navy Type 31 Frigate Programme overview
- General-purpose frigates for the Royal Navy, replacing ageing Type 23 frigates in the patrol and presence role
- Fleet: five ships – HMS Venturer, Active, Formidable, Bulldog, and Campbeltown
- Builder: Babcock International, Rosyth Dockyard, Fife
- Design: Arrowhead 140, a commercial-origin design developed by Babcock
- Contract value: approximately £1.8 billion for five ships
- First delivery: HMS Venturer expected to commission 2027
Type 31 Frigate Specifications
- Displacement: 5,700 tonnes (full load)
- Length: 138.7 metres
- Speed: 28+ knots
- Range: 9,000 nautical miles
- Complement: approximately 110 crew, accommodation for up to 190
- Propulsion: four Rolls-Royce/MTU diesel engines
Armament and systems
- MBDA Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile system (32 vertical-launch cells)
- 57mm Mk110 main gun
- Two 40mm Bofors guns
- Thales TACTICOS combat management system
- NS110 surveillance radar and MRS4 fire-control radar
- Flight deck and hangar for helicopter and drones
Current status (2026)
- HMS Venturer: completing outfitting at Rosyth, sea trials expected 2026, commissioning 2027
- HMS Active: floated out March 2026, now in outfitting
- HMS Formidable: in construction
- HMS Bulldog: construction commenced February 2026
- HMS Campbeltown: in early production
Strategic purpose
The Type 31 Frigate is designed as an affordable, high-throughput frigate, allowing the Royal Navy to maintain a larger number of hulls for presence operations, maritime security, and allied engagement without consuming the capacity of the more expensive Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates. The deliberately lower cost per hull – achieved through commercial design heritage, competitive procurement, and serial production – represents a deliberate policy choice to sustain fleet numbers while the high-end ASW capability is concentrated in the Type 26 class.
Export success
The Arrowhead 140 design has attracted export orders from Poland (three Miecznik frigates) and Romania (two frigates), extending production beyond the five UK hulls and supporting the industrial skills base at Rosyth between national orders.
Industrial significance
The Type 31 programme has sustained significant employment at Babcock’s Rosyth facility and across the wider UK supply chain. The concurrent construction of multiple hulls at Rosyth – three ships simultaneously in various stages of production in 2026 – demonstrates a shipbuilding throughput not seen at the facility for many years.
