The Ministry of Defence has declined to give a firm date for when the first Type 31 frigate, HMS Venturer, will reach initial operating capability, the UK Defence Journal understands. Asked by the Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, Mark Francois, for the current estimated IOC date, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said only that the ship was “scheduled to be handed over to the Royal Navy by the end of the decade”. HMS Venturer is the lead s…