Speeches

Maria Eagle – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational capabilities are of the Type 26 frigates announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Type 26 Global Combat Ship, designed to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability, will be a multi-mission warship designed for joint and multinational operations across the full spectrum of warfare, including complex combat operations, counter piracy, humanitarian and disaster relief work.

It will be capable of operating independently for significant periods, or as part of a task group. Its design is inherently flexible, allowing greater choice in operational tasking through the incorporation of modular systems, to allow incremental upgrades to its systems through the life-time of the class. These include the flexible strike silo (able to host anti-submarine, anti-ship and, if required, land attack strike missiles) and the modular mission bay (able to host unmanned air, surface or sub-surface systems, boats for an embarked force, further command facilities or humanitarian relief stores).

I am withholding further detail as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.