Norway's Type 26 frigate deal could help ease Navy pressures, says former commodore

Norway's decision to buy British-built Type 26 frigates may mean short delays for the Royal Navy – but a former senior officer says the impact will be minimal and could even solve problems for the UK fleet.

Commodore (Ret'd) Steve Prest, who served as Director Navy Acquisition, said the small delay in delivery can be seen as a positive, as the Navy would have struggled to crew the ships within the timeframe they were due to be delivered.

Cdre Prest acknowledged that the Navy is struggling with an ageing fleet of Type 23 frigates, but added: "I think we should see this as a positive.

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"I don't actually see this having much overall impact on the Navy's ability to deliver its operational outputs. I think this could be managed quite effectively."

In a deal worth $10bn, the UK is to supply Norway with Type 26 frigates designed for anti-submarine warfare.

Norway's operation of identical Type 26 ships alongside the Royal Navy will see the deepening of a long-term strategic relationship with a combined fleet of 13 anti-submarine warfare frigates, eight British and at least five Norwegian, to detect, classify, track and defeat hostile submarines, significantly reinforcing Nato's northern flank.

Cdre Prest pointed out how under the deal Norway's frigates may come from the existing UK build programme.

"The fact that the Norwegians may take one or two of our currently ordered frigates out of sequence, I think that solves a problem for the Royal Navy rather than creates one," he said.

"I doubt there'll be much in the way of delay to getting them into service simply because the Royal Navy would not be able to crew them in the timeframe in which they're currently due to be delivered.

"I don't actually see this having much overall impact on the Navy's ability to deliver its operational outputs. I think we should see this as a positive.

"Whilst ideally we would have had ships sooner and quicker and they'd be in service now five years ago, we've got to deal with where we are."