§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the secretary of State for Defence if type 23 frigates were procured to replace type 22 frigates; and if he will make a statement. [958]
§ Mr. IngramThe type 23 class frigate was conceived in the late 1970s as a light anti-submarine frigate whose primary role was to meet the then Soviet nuclear246W submarine threat in the North Atlantic. This new class was intended to replace the Leander class frigate, which was developed in the 1950s and the type 21 class frigate, developed in the 1960s, as the backbone of the Royal Navy's surface ship anti-submarine force. The type 23 class frigate was not procured as a replacement for the type 22 frigate.
§ Mr. Quentin DaviesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of each of the Royal Navy's type 23 frigates. [967]
§ Mr. IngramThe cost of HMS Norfolk, the first of the type 23 class frigates, was £135.449 million. The following 16 vessels have cost, or are estimated to cost where final payments are not yet due, between £60 million and £96 million depending on when the vessel was ordered and the scope of shipbuilder supplied equipment.