Canada's plan for 15 River-class destroyers and Norway's order for five frigates increase the prospective Type 26 family to 34 ships. That total includes Britain's eight and Australia's reduced six-ship Hunter programme. The Canadian figure remains a plan, with greater confidence placed in the eight British ships because contracts have been signed. The comparison is with 46 Leander-family ships across their variants. Building more ships with greater commonality can reduce cost and make a high-end ASW frigate a more attractive purchase.
Notable Point · 9:57-11:20
Canada and Norway push Type 26 to useful scale
The prospective Type 26 family reaches 34 ships, combining signed orders with Canada's 15-ship plan and offering greater production scale.