Defence contractor Babcock says the next generation of British frigates could be crewed by as few as 50 sailors.

John Howie, the company’s corporate affairs chief, said recent technological advances mean fewer crew members are needed.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he said while the Type 31 frigates currently being built for the Royal Navy require a core crew of about 105 sailors, the company believes the next generation vessels – widely known as the Type 32 – should only require half that number. 

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Mr Howie told the newspaper: “People talk about a Type 32 frigate – we like to refer to it as Type 31 batch two. We’re doing a crew of about 105 on Type 31, so realistically we should be aiming to half that number for batch two.”

The corporate affairs chief added that even bigger crew reductions could be possible, taking numbers below 50, although decisions about maintaining safe crew levels would need to be made.

Plans for the Type 32 were announced four years ago but a report last year by the National Audit Office, entitled The Equipment Plan 2023 to 2033, found a deficit of £16.9bn – the largest since 2012 – which it described as a budget “black hole”.

The report said some costs for new projects had been included in the plan – but were not fully funded. This included the Type 32 frigates and other projects, which were seen as unaffordable by £5.9bn against currently allocated budgets.