Why the world's navies are queuing for sub-hunters built on the Clyde

Norway's £10bn order for Type 26 frigates marks a new era for British shipyards

- Bernard Gray Contributing Editor, National Security

By any measure, Norway's decision to order at least five Type 26 frigates from the UK is a big deal. It is the largest export order for warships to be built in British shipyards since at least the second world war, measured by tonnage, lethality and, of course, cost.

This £10bn deal for the ships, each weighing about 7,000 tonnes, was also a huge boost for BAE Systems, which will build the ships at its Govan and Scotstoun yards on the Clyde, as well as for many subcontractors around the UK. Babcock International's shipyard at Rosyth in Fife is also bidding for a contract to build four frigates for the Danish navy, worth more than £1bn.

The Type 26 design has been licensed to Australia, which wants six ships and Canada, which wants up to 15. Taken together with the eight ships on order for the Royal Navy, that means that more than 30 of this class of ships are likely to be built, with the potential for further orders.