SADLY, your news item (Frigate work goes south in yard deal, The National, October 19) comes as no surprise to me.

I have to be honest, I never expected any Type 26 order to be placed on the Clyde either so let’s clear up that issue first before looking at the Type 31e.

If the MoD was going to order all eight Type 26 frigates to be built at BAE Systems yards on the Clyde, economies of scale would have dictated they order all eight at the same time and not just three. The only reason the order for those first three has been given to the Clyde is because until they started cutting steel the Type 26 was a paper frigate.

There’s a wider horizon to consider in order to understand the real reason why the order for “the first three Type 26s” has been placed now and it has nothing to do with any promises made repeatedly to the Clyde shipbuilders and the Scottish people.

There are two major export opportunities for the Type 26 design, the first in Australia where the competition is already well underway, and the second in the US where the Navy has realised it still needs frigates having mothballed or sold its few remaining Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates in recent years in the forlorn hope that its Littoral combat ships would fill that role.

Neither the Australians nor US Navy are interested in paper frigates and concept designs. Therefore, there is no doubt BAE Systems will have lobbied Theresa May to get the MoD to order a few Type 26s at least and as soon as possible to give them a fighting chance in those export competitions.

Let’s hope that BAE Systems wins both the Australian and US Navy contracts but don’t expect any resulting Type 26s to be built on the Clyde. A key part of BAE Systems bids for both of those contracts is that the ships would be built locally, not in the UK.

I have no doubt that the Type 26 will be a very good frigate but I’ll be amazed if Clyde yards get the promised order for all eight. My betting is that the other five will be built on the Tyne, the Mersey and in Portsmouth, but I really hope I’m wrong.

The initial Type 26 order has been drip fed to the Clyde and three ships will not safeguard more than 4000 Scottish jobs for the next 20 years. Before making such statements, the Defence Secretary needs to place the order now for all eight Type 26 frigates to be built on the Clyde. However, don’t hold your breath. They’ve done just enough to help BAE Systems’ commercial bids to Australia and the US, no more.

As for the senior MoD source saying: “It’s really disappointing that the SNP don’t (shouldn’t that be doesn’t?) have the confidence in Scottish shipbuilding to win these contracts,” is utterly unacceptable and that senior source should be firmly told that it’s not for the MoD to make political judgements.

The MoD’s job is to provide the UK with the best possible defences under the direction of the Westminster Parliament. It is not there to take sides in our increasingly divided islands but to serve all the people.

The MoD senior source shows a severe lack of knowledge to boot and should stick to their day job where one hopes they are better informed. The SNP is not a commercial organisation. It’s for BAE Systems to “win these contracts” and they have decided to team with Cammell Laird to build Type 31e frigates on the Mersey.

Let’s hope that Fergusons can put in a winning bid. It’s clearer than ever that BAE Systems needs some competition if Scottish shipbuilding is to have a future, as the UK focuses its attention on shipyards in marginal constituencies in England.

Geoff Tompson

Helensburgh