link : UK MoD Suspends ‘Budget Frigate’ Bid
UK MoD Suspends ‘Budget Frigate’ Bid
Contest to Build A ‘Budget Frigate’ On Hold as MoD Runs Out of Funds (excerpt)
(Source: The Times; published July 25, 2018)
By Deborah Haynes
Sources warned last night that the Type 31e frigate may never materialise. It is a serious blow for the Royal Navy, which needs at least five of the ships to maintain the size of its surface fleet.
Shipbuilders and yards in the running for the £1.25 billion contract were taken by surprise when the Ministry of Defence announced the freeze on Friday, just as they prepared to finalise their respective ship designs. Defence Equipment and Support, the branch of the MoD in charge of buying kit, claimed that there had not been enough “compliant bids”.
Industry insiders disputed this, saying that a failure by Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, to secure new money by the summer to fund his ambitions for the armed forces had thrown into doubt a range of equipment contracts.
They noted that bidders for the frigate work had been waiting to receive funding from the MoD to start the competitive design phase. This should have happened by May, with initial construction targeted for next spring. Instead there was silence then the freeze. (end of excerpt)
Click here for the full story, on The Times website.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: An MOD spokesperson said today, Wednesday that “There have been no changes in our plans to procure a first batch of five new Type 31e frigates to grow our Royal Navy.
“We still want the first ship delivered by 2023 and are confident that industry will meet the challenge of providing them for the price tag we’ve set.
“This is an early contract in a wider procurement process, and we will incorporate the lessons learned and begin again as soon as possible so the programme can continue at pace.”)
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Type 31e Frigate Contractor Process Paused
(Source: British Forces News; issued July 24, 2018)
The ships were marketed as a lower end, lower cost vessel, but none of the bidders could meet the £250 million per ship target, according to Jane's 360.
The decision has come under fire from Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard, who says the Royal Navy needs more capable frigates: "The programme to buy the Type 31e frigate was supposed to be the Ministry of Defence's new low-cost frigate. It was supposed to be the export version.
"To have the MoD pause procurement on that is deeply worrying because the Type 31 frigates come online - they should be in the sea - before the Type 26s.
"The Type 26s are being built - the Type 31s are still nowhere near that."
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Forces News: "There have been no changes in our plans to procure a first batch of five new Type 31e frigates to grow our Royal Navy.
"We still want the first ship delivered by 2023 and are confident that industry will meet the challenge of providing them for the price tag we’ve set.
"This is an early contract in a wider procurement process, and we will incorporate the lessons learned and begin again as soon as possible so the programme can continue at pace."
They go on to say that restarting the process will ensure the best outcome is delivered.
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