Patrol frigates ahoy.
Seeing as the current drawings were only really place holders I decided to knock up what they are actually all about.
Firstly some background to them.
Due to various pieces of legislation the RGN is only able to maintain an 'offensive' pool of so many ships. This works out at 6 cruisers (of which we have the full 6), 30 destroyers (of which we have 22) and 20 'First Rate' frigates (of which we have the full 20).
'Second rate' frigates are not restricted by this legislation in number but are restricted in other respects, these are as follows.
- A length no greater than 120m
- Limited capacity to wield 'high impact' weaponry such as the Tsetse Fly or long-range SAMs such as SM-6 or SM-2ER
- A main gun no larger than 76mm in calibre (This usually means fitting a 57mm)
- Less than 4,000t mean displacement
Dagger Class FFHL
The Dagger class second rate frigate is in all but name a first rate frigate, built right up to the restrictions imposed by the Monroe legislation. They were built in both Galenian and British yards to a modified F3000 design, they entered the capability sustainment program in the past few years along with their little sisters the Fairlights receiving Artisan and Centurions amongst other upgrades.
They are fitted with a pair of Mk.41s in two eight cell blocks (one Tactical and one SDLS) but no AShMs due to Monroe again. Their surface punch in recent years has been augmented by Spike-NLOS which for their intended policing role is perfectly suitable.
Fairlight Class FFGL
The Fairlight class are the younger, smaller sisters of the Daggers, being based upon the design of the Lekiu and her F2000 siblings, again built in both domestic and foreign yards they employ some notable changes over the Daggers other than their smaller stature.
They are currently the only vessels in service with the RGN to utilise the Marte anti-ship missile, these being fitted from new meaning there was little requirement to fit Spike. Unlike the Daggers, they only feature a single Mk.41 block meaning they are slightly more limited in the stores that they carry - currently they only ship ESSMs but integration trials have been performed with Nulka and VS-SPEAR / SDB for use as necessary.
The mismatching pennants and names bely the fact that development of the Fairlights was a more protracted process than that of the Daggers (the original design was near enough a carbon copy of the Lekiu). So in the end they came out quite oddly with swapped pennant numbers.
In conclusion, both classes are expected to be in service for the foreseeable future being frequently deployed abroad to counter piracy and drug runners allowing the pointier part of the stick to be wielded elsewhere.
~Mark.