First Steel Cut for HMS Cardiff

The first steel to be used in Britain's HMS Cardiff, an anti-submarine frigate, was ceremonially cut at BAE Systems' shipyard at Govan, Scotland.

"We have cut steel for the second Type 26 Global Combat Ship, HMS CARDIFF, marking an important milestone in the program to deliver the most advanced Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability to the Royal Navy," said a press release from the British multinational defence company.

BAE Systems employees and representatives from the Royal Navy, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Minister for Defence Procurement, performed the official duties; setting the plasma cutting machine to work on a plate of steel that will form part of the unit that holds vital fuel stores for the ship, it said.

The company has designed and built the Type 26 Global Combat Ship in Glasgow. The Type 26 frigate is an advanced ASW warship designed for the critical protection of the Continuous At Sea Deterrent and Carrier Strike Group.

The City Class Type 26 will build on the pedigree of the Royal Navy’s current Type 23 Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates which have served the Nation well.

Each Type 26 will be equipped with a range of capabilities including the Sea Ceptor missile defence system, a 5-inch medium calibre gun, flexible mission bay, Artisan 997 Medium Range Radar, powerful bow and towed array sonars and a vertical launch silo capable of hosting a variety of weapons.

The ceremony to mark the formal start of manufacture on the second of the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, HMS CARDIFF, comes two years after steel was cut on the first in class, HMS GLASGOW. Momentum on HMS GLASGOW continues with over one half of the ship now in production and she remains on track to enter service in the mid-2020s.

"We have now marked the start of construction of seven complex warships for the UK Royal Navy in just five years, with HMS CARDIFF following her sister ship, HMS GLASGOW, and the five River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV). All five OPVs are now in the water with the first, HMS FORTH, already in active operation for the Royal Navy," said the release.