Looking for the Average Frigate (2018)

-
USS Coronado (LCS-4) conducting training off Malaysia in 2017

I recently decided to look at the armament of all the world’s frigates and here are the results.

First, some notes on methodology. I took frigate to mean warships of between 100 and 150 meters in length. While these numbers and form of measurement are somewhat arbitrary, so are all forms of ship classification and this range seems to fit fairly well. The definition of warship is more difficult. I only included ships operated by navies (no coast guards) and tried to exclude pure patrol ships. However, the line between an OPV and a frigate is somewhat blurry and there were several judgement calls involved.

The same can be said about my dividing surface to air missiles into three categories. While some differentiation was obviously necessary as a Crotale and an Aster 30 are definitely not comparable, deciding which category a particular missile falls into is not clear cut. I generally stuck with point defense missiles having a range of less than 10 miles, medium range missiles 10-30 miles, and long range missiles over 30 miles. However, with older systems I would round down and modern systems I would round up.

Now to the data. I considered four hundred and thirty frigates from fifty three navies. Of those ships, 88% were armed with antiship missiles, making it the single most common weapon. On average, each ship so armed carried 7.7 missiles. Helicopters came a close second, appearing on 86% of frigates, with an average of 1.3 being carried (these figures measure hangar capacity and not just the presence of a flight deck).

Some form of surface to air missile was found on 77% of frigates, meaning that 23% of frigates are effectively defenseless against air and missile attack. This is rather remarkable given just how common antiship missiles and helicopters were. Of those ships with surface to air missiles, 57% had only point defense systems, 38% had medium range missiles, and 5% had long range missiles. This means that just 33% of the world’s frigates have any real value as escorts in the face of air and missile attack. Frigates with medium or long range systems carried an average of 37.3 missiles. While ships with point defense systems carried just 15.9 missiles.

Almost every frigate I counted had a gun of some sort. However, 100mm guns or larger were only found on 43% of ships. Further, just 3% of frigates carried land attack missiles (only the Russians and French). Thus, more than half of the world’s frigates have no effective means of influencing events ashore.

Putting all of the figures together and rounding off for whole numbers, we find that the theoretical average frigate is armed with one helicopter, eight antiship missiles, a 76mm gun, and sixteen point defense missiles. This theoretical ship should be used to put debates about frigate armament into perspective, as all too often they tend to revolve around a handful of particularly well equipped vessels while ignoring the vast majority.

Popular posts from this blog

Missile Loadouts: Arleigh Burke (1991-2018)

-
Image
The Arleigh Burke -class guided missile destroyer was the first of a new generation of warships. Although designed and designated as destroyers, the size and capability of these ships meant that they ended up effectively filling the role previously occupied by the missile cruisers. As the years have passed, the modular nature of their combat systems has allowed them to easily accommodate new weapons and missions, until today they stand alone as the most capable multi-mission surface combatants afloat. Arleigh Burke Flight I Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) commissioned in 1991 with just three missiles: SM-2MR, the conventional land attack Tomahawk , and Harpoon. Although it is almost certain that she was she was designed for the nuclear and antiship versions of Tomahawk, those were withdrawn from service with the end of the Cold War and were likely never carried by any ship of the class. Further, delays with the Vertically Launched ASROC (VLA) program meant that weapon was also was not availab
Read more

Missile Loadouts: Ticonderoga-class (1983-2018)

-
Image
Over their thirty years in service, the missile armament of the Ticonderoga -class cruisers has experienced dramatic evolution and by the time the last one finally decommissions, it is quite possible that not one of the design's original missiles or launchers will remain. The Original Armament When USS Ticonderoga (CG-47)   commissioned in 1983, she was armed with two Mk 26 twin-arm launchers, each fed from a forty-four round magazine containing both SM-2MR surface-to-air-missiles and ASROC antisubmarine weapons (both nuclear and conventional variants). Finally, as with most USN ships of her generation, Ticonderoga  also carried eight Harpoon antiship missiles in Mk 141 canister launchers on the fantail. Ticonderoga in 1983: 72x SM-2MR, 16x ASROC, 8x Harpoon The Mk 41 VLS Is Introduced In 1986, this armament changed drastically when USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) commissioned with two sixty-one cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch Systems instead of Mk 26 launchers. This had the obviou
Read more

Missile Loadouts: Constellation (FFG-62) (2026?)

-
Image
Note the "62" on this image from the Navy.mil announcement - has sanity finally returned to USN hull numbers? With the recently announced selection of the Fincantieri offering for the United States Navy's (USN) FFG(X) program, we now have enough knowledge of what the future USS Constellation will look like to post a notional missile loadout page. Now, the Constellation-class remains very much a paper design and will not join the fleet until at least 2026, so this post is even more speculative than my other missile loadouts posts . However, the result of the FFG(X) program has several unique aspects to its armament that are worth discussing. We now know that the planned armament of the Constellation-class will consist of a 32-cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) forward, four quad canister launchers for the RGM-184 Naval Strike Missile (NSM) amidships, and a 21-cell box launcher for RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) aft. This is a considerable quantity and v
Read more