I See No Sailors- The Royal Navy, Type 32 and the Quiet Mine Warfare Revolution

 

The recent budget increase announcement has focused attention on a range of planned purchases by the MOD. The speech by the Prime Minister, setting out some of the new equipment that is likely to be purchased in the years to come has already been exhaustively pored over, and searched for signs of information to inform speculation.

One subject that has aroused the most intense debate in a lengthy statement is the near throw-away line about the so-called ‘Type 32 frigate’. This is the first time that there has been any public discussion on this planned ship type.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

Its fair to say that the naval and military fan corners of the internet have been incredibly excited by this announcement, and there has been a lot of thoughts laid down about the Type 32, and what it could, or could not be.

It is not an exaggeration to say that within less than 24hrs of its existence as a concept being revealed, there were furious arguments going on about whether it was a scaled up RIVER class, why it should be a Batch 2 Type 31 and why it needed various types of weapons and equipment – and why it definitely needed more CIWS…

The simple fact is that we don’t know what the Type 32 is at the moment, and its likely that the Royal Navy doesn’t either. Right now the bulk of RN attention is focused on setting up and delivering the Type 26 and Type 31 projects – 13 ships comprising some 100,000 tonnes of shipping.  This is a major feat of work and one that will be front and centre as the key thing to deliver for the RN surface fleet.

The Type 32 is years away from entering service – at best it is likely to be ordered and laid down at some point beyond 2025. It isn’t clear if this is going to be the application of the Parker Review into UK shipbuilding, which called for a drumbeat of ships to keep yards going, and if so, whether this means that it will replace the Type 31 on a ‘like for like’ basis (as the Review suggested), or if it will enhance the surface fleet.

All of these are decisions that are many years, at least one General Election and probably one Defence Review away from fruition. In the meantime the RN needs to define what it actually wants the ship class to be – work that is likely to take time and staff effort.

The point of all this is to say that there is remarkably little point in writing about the Type 32 at the moment. It is literally years away from fruition and at present is little more than a gleam in the eye of an entry financial planner’s long term spreadsheet.

It is fascinating though to see the level of debate that this has generated. For some reason ship classes seem to attract more interest and attention than practically any other part of the online defence debate. Psychologically they seem to occupy more importance to people than discussions on naval policy or doctrine, and in ‘equipment debates’ they occupy a far bigger space than discussions about vehicles or aircraft.

Its hard to work out why this is – is it the fact that a ship design represents a blank canvass on which people can try to work out systems and fixtures in a way that’s harder to do with armoured vehicles? The debates focus on which calibre main gun, what type of anti-ship missile or helo to embark – they are lengthy and emotional and involve lots of speculation and rifling through online shopping catalogues, and seemingly little reference to either doctrine, policy or requirements.

Ships seem to occupy a totemically important part of our national consciousness in a way that other parts of Defence do not. They are visible manifestations of our national industry and a way to show to the world that the UK is capable of building this cathedral of steel.  The sight of a  warship in heavy seas is to many an emotionally stirring sight, that tugs deeply into a wider set of emotions and beliefs.

Its perhaps ironic then that for all this obsession with ships and their place in the modern Royal Navy, one of the most important announcements in recent years seems to have gone practically unremarked. The news last week that the RN was working with the French Navy to acquire autonomous Mine Huntingvessels using ships, sonar and other capabilities, which may open the door to replacing the HUNT and SANDOWN class went unnoticed.

This is actually extremely important news. Amidst the excitement of warry new frigates that may or may not appear in a decade, what arguably really matters is looking at how the RN is getting on with bringing cutting edge new technology into service.

A key part of the PM’s budget announcement was about embracing new technology and skills to keep the British Armed Forces at the forefront of globally capable militaries. There is a significant wave of new technology arriving that will potentially change how military force is used, and that may see the human increasingly taken out of the front line.

For the Royal Navy moving to an autonomous mine hunting capability is in many ways an extremely good idea. Why send a ship into a minefield to hunt mines, with all the attendant risk to life, when you could send an uncrewed vessel instead? The potential opportunity posed by this is huge, it would fundamentally change how mine hunting is conducted, and reduce the risk to sailors.

Oddly though, the autonomous capability has never captured the imagination of fans of the Royal Navy in the same way. There are no ‘fantasy fleet’ debates about what could be done with this sort of equipment. Instead it always comes back to crewed ships, with lots of weapons, doing business as its always been done – which may not be the right answer going forward.

If anything the news about this progress is far more exciting than a debate about a paper frigate (important as it is). It heralds real change on the horizon for operations and tactics, and could make a material difference to force structures.

If you don’t need crewed ships, then suddenly mine countermeasures becomes as much about the shore based infrastructure as it does about the robots at sea. What does better autonomous sonar mean for things like the Hydrographic Squadron, and their ships that need replacement? How will this shape the future RN force if you no long need crewed Mine Warfare vessels?

There are all manner of really interesting implications emerging out of this news, but it seems to have been lost among a tidal wave of apathy. This is perhaps ironic as if this works well, then it could have a really major impact on how the future RN fleet is organised and operated. It seems likely that there will be a huge growth in uncrewed vessels in the years to come, which could change how the frigate force itself is operated.

So perhaps it is worth considering why so much time and energy is invested in thinking about designs like the Type 32? Why do escort ships occupy such a strong and vivid place in the imagination of the public and why isn’t the focus on things like uncrewed systems in the same way?

There is a genuine revolution coming, and in 10-15 years time we have the potential for the armed forces to look and feel very different to their current structures, equipment and way of working. Yet, the debate focuses on the platform, not the effect we are trying to have and whether putting people in harms way is the best outcome for every situation.

It is highly unlikely that developments like the autonomous mine warfare platforms will ever get anywhere near as much attention as they deserve. But we should spend more time looking at them, because this is where the revolution is really happening.

To sum up, yes the Type 32 is coming, but Humphrey refuses to be particularly excited about it. Until this moves from a paper concept into a confirmed order, then it remains a theoretical pledge – and there have been plenty of designs like that over the years. The long term potential for UK shipbuilding is significant, and it is reassuring to see a commitment to trying to keep the build lines going for larger escort vessels well into the 2030s, but lets keep an equal level of focus on the equally exciting, and arguably far more exciting changes going on closer to home – because if this works, then within a decade or two we may ask ourselves ‘why do we need a warship with crew at all’?