The Royal Navy wanted robust warships at the height of the Cold War to hunt Soviet submarines in the North Atlantic. The Type 22 anti-submarine frigates were large and expensive to operate. The Royal Navy wanted the next generation of anti-submarine frigates to be both cheaper to build and to operate.  

The Royal Navy had a bad experience with the very high cost of the mid-life upgrades performed on the Leander class frigates. Therefore, the new frigate would have a short service life of 18 years. And these upgrades would be limited to short but frequent work packages, instead of keeping the ships out of service for long periods for upgrades. The Type-23 frigates would frequently go through upgrade cycles. These rolling updates would replace the major items that had become obsolete and keep the ships and their capabilities updated with the latest possible version.