Chapter 706 Frigate

This time, Colo and the Colo Corps did not have many choices when purchasing ships from the British Navy. For example, destroyers, amphibious assault ships and even aircraft carriers are expensive, and the daily maintenance and number of naval soldiers required far exceed Colo's needs.

Therefore, they are currently focusing on frigates.

According to the information Barron obtained from Errol Brut, the commander of the Colo Corps, there are currently two types of frigates to choose from: Type 22 and Type 23.

Among them, the Type 22 frigate is a first-class large ocean-going multi-purpose frigate that was successively put into service by the British Navy in the 1970s and 1980s. The construction cycle spanned three batches over eleven years, with a total of 14 ships in service.

So far, a total of 7 Type 22 frigates of this type have been resold to other countries after retirement.

These include Brazil, Romania, Chile and other countries. The last Type 22 frigate traded so far was the Sheffield, the fifth ship of the second batch, which was sold to Chile in April 2003 and renamed Almirante Williams F-19.

As for the Type 23 frigate, it is a large multi-purpose frigate mainly used for anti-submarine warfare that was put into service in large quantities by the British Navy in the 1990s, and it is still the main ship among the British Navy's surface ships today.

The Type 23 frigate was built in 5 batches, and it was originally planned to serve 23 ships, but a total of 16 ships were finally put into service.

In 2004, due to financial constraints, the British Navy continued to reduce the size of its surface ship formation, and the size of the Type 23 frigate was reduced to 13 ships.

So the "little prince of second-hand ships" Chilean Navy seized the plan and obtained the Norfolk, Cauton and Mabolo frigates from the British Navy at a low price in 2005. Among them, Cauton was only put into service in 1997, and it had only been in service for 8 years when it was sold.

Among them, the Norfolk was transferred to Chile in 2006 and renamed Almirante Cochrane FF-05, and was commissioned on November 22 of the same year.

The Krafton was handed over in 2007, and Chile named it Almirante Lynch FF-07, and commissioned on March 28, 2007.

The Mabolo was handed over to Chile in 2008 and renamed Almirante Condell FF-06, and commissioned on May 28, 2008.

"Although the price of the Type 22 frigate is lower, considering that they are too old, if we choose to buy them, we will not only need to spend an additional amount of money for overall upgrades, but also the usual maintenance costs will be higher."

Including this type of warship, marine vessels need to be regularly inspected and maintained in the shipyard, which can be compared to the annual inspection of cars. The older the warship, the shorter the interval will be, and the average annual maintenance cost will be much higher.

With this in mind, Colo is more inclined to the Type 23 frigate.

After all, this type of frigate is still the main force of the British Navy, and the current Type 23 frigates have been in service in the British Navy for no more than 10 years, and are in very good overall condition.

If equipped with these two frigates, then the naval force of Colo can be counted as a strong force in the whole of West Africa...

After all, not to mention that many countries' navies here do not have decent warships, even the few warships in the region can be traced back to the Second World War and the Cold War.

"Take the three Type 23 frigates purchased by the Chilean Navy from Britain between 2006 and 2008. These three frigates have only served in the Royal Navy for about 10 years. They are in good condition and are the surface combat ships with the highest dispatch rate in the Chilean Navy..."

Barron saw the following in the relevant information:

"In 2004, in order to build the Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier, the British Royal Navy had to cut naval military expenditures and retired three Type 23 frigates ahead of schedule. The Chilean Navy got a bargain and bought three relatively new Type 23 frigates for a total price of less than $200 million."

The standard displacement of the Type 23 frigate is 3,500 tons and the full load displacement is 4,200 tons. It is 133 meters long, 16.1 meters wide, and has a draft of 5.5 meters.

The power system is 2 SM-1A gas turbines and 2 SM-1C gas turbines, with a maximum speed of 28 knots.

The weapons are 1 Mk8 114mm naval gun, 2 twin 30mm naval guns, 32-unit Sea Wolf ship-to-air missile vertical launch system, 2 quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers, 2 triple 324mm torpedo tubes, and 2 Lynx Mk.8 anti-submarine helicopters.

According to the results of the negotiations between Colo and the Royal Navy, if they purchase two Type 23 frigates, they will be able to carry out corresponding modifications at the British shipyard. In addition to certain system upgrades, they will also be equipped with sufficient weapons and ammunition, plus personnel training. The total amount of this military sales order is about 125 million US dollars.

This price is relatively favorable, and it is also because in the subsidiary agreement of this order, the Colo Corps will receive a group of retired soldiers and officers from the Navy - these people have experience in operating Type 23 warships, and will also send some local personnel of the Colo Corps to England for relevant training to ensure that they can complete the acceptance of the two warships and form combat effectiveness.

After the transaction is completed, it is expected that the two warships will be able to form combat effectiveness in half a year, that is, in March or April next year, and enter the battle sequence of the Kolo Corps.

The local personnel sent to the UK by the Kolo Corps for training will learn along with the entire process of the transformation of the two warships, and the other part will be able to follow other Type 23 frigates in service in the UK for training.

Although it is difficult for the relevant sailors to complete sufficient training in the past six months, these people will not directly enter the key positions of the operation of the two frigates - these positions are still mainly retired personnel of the Royal Navy, and they can continue to be trained in the actual navigation exercises later.

In the process of reducing the size of the British Navy, some redundant naval personnel will retire, and the placement of these personnel is also a headache for the government. This transaction with Kolo can not only reduce naval expenditures and reduce the number of warships, but also solve the placement of a considerable number of personnel, which is very satisfactory to the British side.

And the most important thing is that a considerable number of personnel in the Kolo Corps, especially military personnel in higher positions, are from the British Army.

Although Kolo bought the ownership of the two warships, the close relationship between the two parties meant that in an emergency, the two warships could "cooperate" with the British Royal Navy, and there were no obstacles to communication and coordination.

Well, at least this could be done before Kolo's local naval personnel were qualified to enter the key positions of the two frigates.

So on September 15, Kolo officially signed this military purchase agreement with Britain.