AERALIS congratulates Babcock International Group on the rollout of HMS Venturer, the first of five Type-31 frigates to be built in Rosyth to replace the UK’s Type-23 fleet.

Based on Babcock’s modular Arrowhead 140 design, the Type-31 offers upgrade flexibility and a strong export proposition, with each ship tailorable to specific customer requirements. Known as the Inspiration Class, these frigates will support a wide range of Royal Navy missions including maritime security, disaster relief and naval warfare.

In July 2016, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones stated that the General Purpose Frigate (GPFF – later to be named Type-31), was:

“…still a complex warship, and it is still able to protect and defend and to exert influence around the world, but it is deliberately shaped with lessons from wider industry and off-the-shelf technology to make it not only much more appealing to operate at a slightly lower end of Royal Navy operations but of interest to a much wider set of our international partners.”

Babcock CEO David Lockwood said of the rollout:

“We set our sights across generations and these frigates are built with flexibility and through-life support in mind and will provide a highly capable platform for our brave service personnel wherever they serve in the world, for decades to come.”

The parallels of Type-31 to the AERALIS programme are evident: designed with pragmatism and wisdom to deliver to a performance sweet spot, with flexibility and through-life value inherent from day one; leveraging the latest technology where it is relevant and adds value or capability, but otherwise using proven systems and components elsewhere; and built to deliver to UK prosperity as well as sovereign defence capability, with an enterprising approach to capture the broader export opportunities and long term customer commitments of a decades-long platform implementation.

David John Townsend, AERALIS Head of Sales Programme and ex-Royal Navy comments:

“The Royal Navy understood the benefits of modularity, not only to improve through-life affordability, but to ensure the UK had a compelling export proposition for allied nations, which in turn helps to ensure essential skills and capabilities are retained here at home.

“The renewal of light jet trainers is a pressing need not just for the Royal Air Force (RAF) but for air forces around the world. AERALIS will not be a one-time procurement but a commitment to a platform and supply chain that will support jobs and deliver economic returns for manufacturing nations for years into the future.

“AERALIS believes that the UK should be at the forefront of this opportunity and is giving the UK Government every reason to buy British.”

🔗 Read the Telegraph article in full

🔗 Arrowhead 140: www.arrowhead140.com

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