Shortlist of the Type 31e frigate competitors for the UK

Team Leander (BAE Systems and Cammell Laird), Babcock’s Team31 (Babcock with BMT and Thales), and Atlas Elektronik UK in association with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems have been shortlisted for the building of the UK’s Type 31e frigate.


Team Leander (BAE Systems and Cammell Laird), Babcock’s Team31 (Babcock with BMT and Thales), and Atlas Elektronik UK in association with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems have been shortlisted for the building of the UK’s Type 31e frigate.


Shortlist of the Type 31e frigate competitors for the UK A board showing the design submission of the three competitors shortlisted for the building of the Type 31e frigate for the Royal Navy (Picture source : Engaging Strategy)


The Type 31 frigate, also known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPFF), is a planned class of frigate for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy intended to enter service in the 2020s alongside the more capable Type 26 frigate (The MoD wants the first of the five frigates to be delivered in 2023). It is intended that the Type 31 frigate will replace some of the Type 23 frigates. The preferred bidder will be announced by the end of 2019.

Team Leander, lead by Cammell Laird (scheduled to prime, build and assemble the vessels), and supported by BAE Systems (providing design and combat systems for the vessel), propose the Leander frigate to the Royal Navy, based on the design of the Khareef class corvettes.

Babcock’s Team 31, a consortium lead by Babcock and regrouping BMT and Thales, has proposed its Arrowhead 140, based on the proven in-service Iver Huitfeldt frigate design. Babcock would be in charge of the design and the building of the vessels.

Atlas Elektronik UK (leading a consortium that includes British shipyards Harland & Wolff and Ferguson Marine Engineering), in association with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, propose the MEKO A-200 Derivitive, which would be a frigate based on the existing MEKO A-200 vessels.