Final Type 45 Destroyer Enters UK Royal Navy Service

The Royal Navy’s sixth and final Type 45 destroyer has entered service four months ahead of schedule.
HMS Duncan’s entry into service marks the end of a 13-year build program to provide Britain with a fleet of anti-air destroyers to replace the old Type 42 vessels, the last of which, HMS Edinburgh, was decommissioned in the summer of 2013.
The 7,500-ton warship was commissioned in September and will be based at Portsmouth along with the other vessels of its class. All of the warships were built by BAE Systems.
The first of class, HMS Daring, entered service in mid-2009. Originally, the British intended to purchase 12 destroyers but whittled the number down as costs rose and requirements changed.
The entry into service of HMS Duncan brings the Royal Navy’s surface combat fleet up to its full strength of 19 warships — Six Type 45s and 13 Type 23 frigates.
The Type 23s will be gradually replaced by the Type 26 frigate. Design work on that warship is already well advanced and a decision on building the first of the new warships is scheduled for 2016.
The government said it will place a first order with BAE covering eight Type 26s. The MoD remains committed to a fleet of 13 frigates for the time being but the actual number has been clouded slightly by a recent order of three offshore patrol boats capable of operating a Merlin helicopter.
defensenews

FUTURA FRAGATA DE LA ROYAL NAVY BRITANICA/Contract Signed for Assessment Phase of Navy's Next Warships

El ministerio de defensa británico (MOD), ha firmado un contrato para la fase inicial de desarrollo de su futuro buque de combate, Type 26. El equipo de diseño está encabezado por BAE Systems Surface Ships. Las fragatas Type 26 sustituirán a las Type 22 y Type 23 que dejarán el servicio a finales de la década.
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The MOD has signed a contract for the Assessment Phase of the Royal Navy's next generation of warships - the Type 26 combat ship.
A team led by BAE Systems Surface Ships, working with the MOD, will consider design proposals for the Type 26 combat ship, named in recognition of its planned multiple roles.
The Type 26 will replace the Type 22 and 23 frigates, which are to begin leaving service at the end of the decade. The ship will provide support for land operations as well as undertaking other key tasks such as anti-submarine warfare.
BAE Systems has been awarded a four year £127 million contract by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to take forward the programme to develop the new generation of combat ships for the Royal Navy.