A complex warship design active in the upcoming third of the 21st Century has to be adaptable to survive, both in an operational context and a competitive export market. The ability to cost-effectively reconfigure the capability of a warship to suit a dynamic operational need and changing threat environment will result in a platform that remains relevant throughout its entire life, and can be tailored for a number of different customers to be attractive to the widest base. However, while pursuing adaptability this complex warship must also balance modularity with the platform features commensurate to the threat environment in which it will employ these capabilities, such as survivability, signatures, damage control, damaged performance and recoverability. The capacity to adapt to future roles was a core requirement of the Royal Navy for the Type 31 INSPIRATION Class Frigate, driven by rapidly developing technology and a dynamic global strategic context. Despite a common lineage the ARROWHEAD-140 product and the Royal Navy’s Type 31 Frigate design have a different approach to adaptability to the Danish IVER HUITFELDT class. These differences, and the reasons behind them, will be outlined within this paper. This paper will also explore the lessons identified within the Type 31 Frigate design & build contract to both deliver an adaptable warship for the Royal Navy and a successful export design, including: • Requirements that enable a balanced design with the freedom to incorporate envelopes, features and margins to allow for capability growth or reorientation when in-service; with a design ownership solution employed during the programme configured to allow this necessary freedom; • Managing the concurrency of requirements and future adaptable roles to deliver a feasible and safe complex warship that can still be certified by an independent Class society and ultimately be built to a reasonable cost; • The design of platform features ranging from survivability, recoverability and signatures to certifiable structural design and margins that are the fundamental foundations underpinning an adaptable warship that still remains credible in the face of a changeable threat. The Type 31 Frigate has passed through the design stages into production, with a number of export customers now also adopting this complex warship design for their future major naval platforms. This design is therefore a strong demonstration of how adaptability can credibly and cost-effectively be delivered within a Frigate, and will be explored within this paper.