The Type 31 frigate has reached a key milestone in its development after the completion of a comprehensive review of the ship’s design.
What is known as the Whole Ship Preliminary Design Review (WSPDR) was completed, virtually, by 15 experts during ten days of scrutiny, which provided a key indicator of the compliance, maturity and engineering risk in proceeding to the next Detailed Design phase.
This progress comes as Babcock announces the construction of a new assembly hall capable of housing two Type 31s at their Rosyth facility in Scotland.
Graeme Thomson, Babcock Type 31 Programme Director said: “Completing the Whole Ship PDR is a key milestone for the Type 31 programme and signals our move into Detailed Design.
“I’d like to thank all involved, a lot of hard work went into achieving this positive outcome. I look forward to the next stage in this exciting and challenging programme.”
On the new assembly hall, a Babcock update said: “Babcock’s Rosyth facility has seen significant investment in the last decade and is embarking on a new era of digitising facilities and systems to bring advancements and efficiencies into the manufacturing, build and assembly process for the frigates.”
This preliminary review was the culmination of a large number of small specific reviews that addressed the maturity of the individual systems that make up the Type 31.
The 15 experts reviewed the design and questioned the engineering team. Although this was a Team 31 milestone event, attendees and contributors also came from the Ministry of Defence.
Babcock’s report added: “The independent board were impressed with the rate of progress made since contract award in November 2019, and the level of technical maturity of the design.
“The engineering team in particular, and all contributors to the successful WSPDR, are to be commended for their efforts.”
