The Royal Institution of Naval Architects’ symposium Future surface Ships will be held in London in June 2001. This 21st in RINA's successful WARSHIP series event will look at the next generation of surface warships of the Destroyer, Frigate and Corvette type will form the backbone of many of the world's navies well into the first half of this century.

All capabilities of these new ships must be carefully balanced to complement existing naval inventories, meeting new Operational Requirements in the post cold war world of the expeditionary force and police action, whilst bringing cost effective improvement wherever possible. This is especially important where new designs have been conceived to replace more than one class of ship, a trend that seems to be emerging and which points towards the 'multi-purpose' warship. Joint nation collaboration in the development and procurement of common ships, despite some recent setbacks, is still an important element in many projects where nations have similar requirements.

Other measures such as the use of Commercial- Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment and commercial standards is another trend likely to continue. With the launch of the trimaran demonstrator RV Triton showing that unconventional designs are now being seriously considered for surface warships of the future, such innovative proposals will be reviewed along with the more conventional designs.

As well as new designs, the symposium will focus on experience gained from the present generation of ships, which in many cases will still be operational for decades to come.