HMS Bulldog (Type 31 frigate)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Bulldog.

HMS Bulldog is a Type 31 frigate of the Royal Navy and the eighth vessel named Bulldog.^[7] The name was selected to represent key themes that represent the future plans of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.

History
United Kingdom
Name	Bulldog
Namesake	HMS Bulldog (H91)
Builder	Babcock International,[1] Rosyth
Status	Ordered
General characteristics
Class & type	Type 31 frigate
Displacement	5,700 t (5,600 long tons)
Length	138.7 m (455 ft 1 in)
Installed power	4 × Rolls Royce/MTU 20V 8000 M71 (8.2 MW) diesel engines[2] 4 × Rolls Royce/MTU 16V 2000 M41B (900 kW) generators
Propulsion	MAN Alpha VBS Mk 5 controllable pitch propeller, two shafts, CODAD[3]
Speed	In excess of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Endurance	9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi)
Complement	c. 110 (accommodation for up to 190)[4]
Sensors & processing systems	Thales TACTICOS combat management system, Thales NS110 3D radar, Raytheon Warship Integrated Navigation and Bridge System, Terma Scanter and Raytheon NSX navigation radars, 2 Mirador Mk2 EOS, Viasat Ultrahigh-frequency satellite communications[5]
Electronic warfare & decoys	Vigile-D ESM
Armament	Missiles: Sea Ceptor surface-to-air missile silos[6] Guns: 1 × 57 mm Mk 110 main gun 2 × 40 mm Mk 4 secondary guns 4 × 7.62 mm General purpose machine guns
Aircraft carried	1 × Wildcat, or 1 × Merlin,
Aviation facilities	Helicopter hangar and flight deck
Notes	Mission bay under flight deck for 6 TEUs. 3 boat bays for RHIBs and USVs/UUVs.

Bulldog, named after the Second World War B-class destroyer HMS Bulldog (H91), which escorted convoys in the Atlantic, was chosen to represent operations in the North Atlantic. Bulldog captured a German Enigma machine and associated codebooks that were on board U-boat U-110. Its capture enabled British intelligence to decipher German naval messages.^[8] The plan for the Type 31 project envisages all five units of the class being in service by February 2030.^[9]