Type 23 Life Extension Programme

Updating the Royal Navy's Type 23 Class Frigates to operate well beyond their original design life expectancy.

Working with our Ministry of Defence partners and commercial partners through the Surface Ship Support Alliance (SSSA), Babcock is ensuring that the Class remains relevant against today’s threat and de-risking its future transition back into service.  

A significant programme of capability updates which includes replacement of the primary weapon system, major upgrade to marine equipment, changes to address equipment obsolescence and extensive work to extend the life of the hull and superstructure is being carried out at Babcock’s Devonport Royal Dockyard facility. 

To ensure successful delivery of this complex update and upgrade programme we have made significant investment  in our facilities, processes and people. We have established a combined systems engineering and programmatic approach, including generating a realistic and achievable Class maintenance operating cycle, technical analysis to ensure the ship can reach its planned out of service date, co-ordinated management of the physical and functional integration activity, and integrated scheduling and management of risk for delivery.

Originally conceived in the late 1970s for anti-submarine warfare in the North Atlantic, the Type 23 Frigate, which first entered service in 1989, has proven itself a highly capable platform. With its replacement – the Type 26 Global Combat Ship – still some years from operational service, the Type 23 Class must operate well beyond its original design life – our commitment and capabilities, working with the other members of the SSSA, is making this aspiration a reality.