[FG86]

Great news for the UK, Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy. Australia is to buy the type 26 frigate design to build 9 frigates down under. I appreciate they will not be built in UK yards, however very few large warships are now built and exported. The success of this contract will benefit British suppliers and associated companies working with BAE, hopefully bring down the overall cost of the ships. It also opens up the joint development of future joint weapon projects that would have been too expensive for a single country, i.e long range SSM missile development.
The design is a well thought out, a future proofed ship, that can evolve to meet both technical changes and environmental /political trends. Hopefully Canada will also be interested to further expand the development. Hopefully the type 31 design will provide a more flexible vessel even better suited for export.
Looking back the Leander frigate design was a good concept, a general purpose hull and machinery design that allowed for individual weapon and sensor fits, the Dutch and Chileans in particular benefitted from the Leander design purchase.