Preparations 'well underway' to build Royal Navy Type 26 frigate HMS Newcastle - when will ships join fleet
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Work to start constructing the sixth of eight new Royal Navy frigates is “well underway”.
BAE Systems confirmed that the project to build HMS Newcastle will be starting this year. The move was announced as the company released its preliminary results for the 2025 financial year.
They said: “Preparations to start construction of the sixth Type 26 frigate, HMS Newcastle, are well underway with long-lead equipment items already in progress.” Described as being “world class” capabilities, the City-class frigates will replace their ageing Type 23 counterparts.
Designed to scope out submarines and carry out other operations from reconnaissance patrols to air defence missions, the frigates are set to join the fleet from 2028 and into the 2030s. They are being built in BAE Systems’ Govan and Scotstoun shipyards in Scotland.
Closer to home in Portsmouth, the company’s engineers support and maintain the Royal Navy’s flotilla. They were vital to ensuring that the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, and Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, were prepared and fit for service ahead of Operation Highmast in 2025.
The company employs more than 3,500 people in the Solent area, with high-skilled engineers and technologists in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight delivering expertise in radar, underwater weapons, and training. BAE Systems announced a rise in operating profit from £2.685bn in the year ending December 2024 to £2.925bn 12 months later, a rise of nine per cent.
Chief executive Charles Woodburn said: “Our results highlight another year of strong operational and financial performance, thanks to the outstanding dedication of our employees. In a new era of defence spending, driven by escalating security challenges, we’re well positioned to provide both the advanced conventional systems and disruptive technologies needed to protect the nations we serve now and into the future. With a record order backlog and continuing investment in our business to enhance agility, efficiency and capacity, we’re confident in our ability to keep delivering growth over the coming years.”
How close are the Type 26 frigates to joining the Royal Navy fleet?
HMS Glasgow
The first of the eight City-class frigates was officially named by the Princess of Wales in 2025. Her engines were fired up for the first time in December, with all four generators having having enough energy to power a town the size of Fareham. Engineers are currently completing final outfitting work.
HMS Cardiff
HMS Cardiff is at the same stage as HMS Glasgow, with final outfitting work currently being undertaken at BAE’s Scotstoun yard. This is the process where the vessel is equipped with all the necessary non-structural components, where systems of the hull are being constructed.
HMS Belfast and HMS Birmingham
The third and fourth frigates are both under construction at the ship’s Janet Harvey Hall. Key structural components for both ships were completed in 2025 at the Cammell Laird yard in Merseyside, with the blocks being transported to Scotland. Units for HMS Sheffield are being constructed at the shipyard in Govan.