These are the average monthly sea water temperatures for Manama,Bahrain,which exceed Leander's maximum operating conditions,as do air temperatures in the Gulf (even in the United Kingdom,sea water and air temperatures can fall below Leander's minimum operating conditions).
Had it done so,it would not be in the mess it is in today.
There would have been no need to develop,manufacture and maintain three different surface combatant hulls and three different propulsion,steering and power generation systems.
There would have been no need to develop,manufacture and maintain two different medium range radars and two different anti-aircraft missile systems.
There would have been neither the need for expensive design,manufacture and support of very low production volume warships,weapons and equipment,nor the need to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on River class patrol vessels to keep ship yards open.
The savings from reduced development spending and,more efficient,higher volume manufacturing would have paid for a larger fleet of more capable surface combatants.
Though they are far from perfect,the Type 23s have proven to be perfectly adequate in most respects,unlike their predecessors,the more expensive and less flexible Type 22 frigates.
The £1250 million allocated for the procurement of five Type 31e frigates is similar to the original procurement cost of five Type 23 frigates,after allowing for inflation.
The Type 23 frigates have had long service lives,their longevity is a result of their flexibility,sound design (unlike the preceding Types 21,22 and 42 they have not suffered from structural problems and unlike the succeeding Type 45 they have not suffered from engine problems) and moderate operating costs.
A stark contrast to the shorter lived Type 22 class which,despite costing more to build,was less useful,more expensive to operate and,in the longer,multirole batch three,suffered from hull cracks.
As is the case with military aircraft,multirole ships stay in service for longer,providing better value for money,because they are more useful more often.
The Type 23's most significant weakness,the short range and limited utility of it's Sea Wolf air defence missile system,has been mitigated by it's replacement with the longer ranged and multipurposeSea Ceptor missile system.
The 4.5" Mark 8 gun has been out ranged by land based artillery guns for over forty years,a significant problem for ships which engage in Naval Gunfire Support (N.G.S.) which cannot be solved by spending forty five million pounds per ship on the 5" Mark 45 gun,which also suffers from the same problem,but which may be solved with our proposed Five and a Half Inch Naval Gunor mitigated at more moderate cost by means of a slower burning propellant and a longer barrel for the 4.5" Mark 8 gun,to increase it's range and reduce time of flight at all ranges.
The Type 23 frigate's two DS30M Mark 2 30mm Automated Small Calibre Guns are unable to fire dead ahead and astern and,as they do not cover overlappingsectors,only one gun may be brought to bear on any target with no redundancy in the event that a gun is unavailable due to technical failure,battle damage or a lack of ammunition (this very poor design is common to many British warships).
In emergencies and when performing special tasks a single helicopter hangar is a significant inconvenience,even for a ship which routinely carries only one helicopter.
The Type 23's boats' lack of horse power,fire power and protection may be a cause of embarrassment to naval boarding parties.
When the ship's helicopter is unavailable (due to maintenance,technical failure,battle damage,crew fatigue,weather,refuelling,rearming or accident),the Type 23's only anti-submarine weapon is the light weight Stingray torpedo which is out ranged by the heavy weight torpedoes used by submarines.
This is the Type 23M frigate,our proposed replacement for five Type 23 frigates,which is intended to satisfy the Type 31 requirement and to provide a basis for an entry to the United States' Navy's F.F.G.(X.) competition.
The superstructure of the Type 23M shall be enclosed to increase structural depth,increase reserve buoyancy,increase internal volume,reduce maintenance and reduce electromagnetic reflections,added top weight being counter ballasted by thicker bottom plates (doors shown concealing the boats and replenishment equipment may be omitted to reduce weight,cost and maintenance).
From the flight deck level upwards,Type 23M frigates shall be parallel sided from the front of the superstructure back to the transom in order to reduce the cost of design and construction,increase righting moment and structural width,widen the flight deck and maximise useable internal volume.
The Type 23M shall be a modernised Type 23 frigate,based on the same hull form,with similar internal arrangements and using much of the same,newly built or refurbished,equipment as the current Type 23 frigates.
Picture: Grand Logistics
New types of equipment shall be specified only where it is operationally or financially beneficial.
The Type 23M shall use newer and more efficient electric propulsion motors than those fitted to the current Type 23 frigates to extend it's range and endurance.
The Type 23M shall use the 4.5" Mark 8 Modification 2 gun,this being a modest upgrade on the 4.5" Mark 8 Modification 1 gun used by the current Type 23 frigates,with a barrel of seventy two calibres length and slower burning propellants,a more economical way to increase gun range than adopting the 5"Mark 45 gun.
The Type 23M shall use the same DS30M 30mm cannon as the current Type 23 frigates but shall carry them atop the bridge and hangar where they shall cover wider,overlapping,sectors and be able to fire ahead and astern.
The Type 23M shall use the same Merlin and Wildcat helicopters,with the same support equipment,as the current Type 23 frigates but shall have a wider hangar,able to accommodate two Merlins when needed,and a wider flight deck.
The Type 23M shall use two Pacific 950 boats,with more power,payload,protection and firepower than the two Pacific 24 boats carried by the current Type 23 frigates.
A lighter,cheaper,more flexible and less intrusive alternative to the strike length Mark 41 launcher which may be fitted to the Type 23M,Type 23,Type 26 frigates and Type 45 destroyers,is to have Spearfish torpedoes and Perseus,Tomahawk,Harpoon or Naval Strike Missiles launched from canisters on the fore deck (along with a single eight cell tactical length Mark 41 launcher for thirty two quad packed Sea Ceptor missiles on the Type 23M).
The Type 23M shall use either the same Magazine Torpedo Launch System and Stingray lightweight torpedoes as the current Type 23 frigates,supplemented by a handful of vertically launched anti-submarine missiles for use when the helicopter is not available or,preferably,canister,tube or vertically launched Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes which shall be useful against both submarines and surface ships.
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