The UK Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates have soaked up more than £1bn ($1.3bn) in upkeep costs since 2014, with the new replacement Type 26 and Type 31 frigates still years away from entering service.
Just eight of an original class of 16 Type 23 frigates are still in service with the Royal Navy. Of the original 16, three vessels were sold to Chile in the mid-2000s and of those in UK service, five have been decommissioned.
Of the five decommissioned Type 23s, three were axed in 2024 alone as the UK government sought to cut costs, with the frigates increasingly expensive to maintain.
In a 17 March 2025 written parliamentary response, UK Defence Procurement Minister Maria Eagle stated that £941.2m had been spent on the delivery of Type 23 frigate upkeeps completed since 2014, with a further £63.7m contractually committed for the delivery of T23 maintenance programmes.
“These are a planned series of upkeep periods in order to maintain ship condition and to introduce, where appropriate, capability updates,” Eagle said.
In addition, Eagle said the eight Type 26 frigates were expected to enter service “between 2028 and 2035”, which aligns with previously stated timelines. Meanwhile, the five Type 31 frigates were planned to be in service by the “early 2030s”, with the first, HMS Venturer, possibly in the 2027-28 timeframe.
The exact expected out-of-service dates (OSD) for the remaining Type 23 frigates is guarded by the UK Ministry of Defence, although vessels are thought to be scheduled to leave service through to 2035, the last being the newest Type 23, HMS St Albans, commissioned in 2002.
Each ship of the class was originally intended to have an 18-year service life before replacement, but this has been extended through a series of refits and recertifications.
In line with vessel class certification rules, the OSD of warships can be extended for a maximum of six years following completion of each upkeep maintenance programme.
According to 2023 data, from 2011-2017 each of the then 13 Type 23 frigates underwent a LIFEX or refit period, with the duration of each programme ranging from 12 months up to 36 months. From 2018 onwards this increased to between 37-49 months.
The cost to refit and maintain the ageing class is also a factor, with HMS Iron Duke’s 2023 refit costing more than £100m. By comparison, in the financial year 2023-24, £100m was allocated for Type 23 refits, according to official figures.
