QinetiQ is to install an additive manufacturing facility at HM Naval Base Clyde capable of producing submarine components on demand at the dockside, in a development that is intended to reduce the time boats spend alongside between operational patrols.

The new capability has been delivered through two contracts with the Submarine Delivery Group’s Additive Manufacturing team, with the Additive Manufacturing All In One solution and its associated Market Access Cell together enabling submarine components to be manufactured to order on site by QinetiQ and Royal Navy submariners and delivered directly to the boats.

According to QinetiQ, the All In One solution constitutes what the company describes as a UK sovereign point-of-need capability designed to reduce dependence on complex external supply chains and accelerate repair timelines on the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet.

The arrangement combines two distinct strands, with the All In One containers handling routine on-site production while the Market Access Cell covers more complex components that fall outside what can be produced on site. The All In One containers were designed and manufactured by QinetiQ technicians and engineers at the company’s Cody Technology Park headquarters in Farnborough before being moved to Faslane, where one container will support reverse engineering tasks by scanning parts to produce a digital blueprint, with parts then re-engineered in the neighbouring workshop using polymer printing technology.

The Market Access Cell, meanwhile, sees parts reverse engineered by QinetiQ at specialist facilities across the United Kingdom, with digital blueprints then shared with an accredited network of UK and Australian small and medium enterprises drawn from sectors including Formula 1.

QinetiQ will operate the containers at Faslane with the support of Royal Navy submariners, before applying its engineering expertise and platform knowledge to support the Submarine Delivery Group in qualifying components produced through either route for reintroduction into the wider supply chain.

Will Blamey, Chief Executive of UK Defence at QinetiQ, said the combined capability would address one of the longstanding constraints on submarine availability. “Our proven expertise in additive manufacturing combined with the latest technology being installed at HM Naval Base Clyde will see us print, scan and reverse engineer submarine parts on demand, at pace and at dockside, helping to get submarines back on operations more quickly,” he said, as quoted in the company’s release.

First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, who launched the Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan in January, described the deployment as a meaningful step toward the plan’s goals. “The arrival of these deployable workshops marks a step forward in delivering the Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan,” he said. “This new technology has the potential to change how we maintain our submarines, cutting time alongside and increasing availability. It represents the real, tangible, progress the Royal Navy is making to strengthen the underwater fleet.”

The Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan was established in response to longstanding concerns about the availability of the Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet and about the lengthening time the boats spend alongside undergoing maintenance rather than at sea on operations. The Astute class attack submarine fleet and the Vanguard class ballistic missile submarine fleet have both been affected, with maintenance cycles for the latter in particular running considerably longer than originally planned, and Faslane, as the home of both fleets, sits at the centre of the recovery effort.

QinetiQ’s involvement in additive manufacturing for submarine maintenance has been building for some time, having most recently supported a routine maintenance period for HMS Anson, the fifth of class Astute submarine, when the boat visited Perth in Western Australia in March 2026. According to QinetiQ, the company rapidly designed and produced the required critical components and delivered replacements in around four weeks, well inside the lead times typical of the conventional submarine supply chain, with the experience having helped inform the design and operational concept of the All In One facility now being introduced at Faslane.

Paul Duff, Associate Materials Scientist at QinetiQ, said the project had moved from concept to fielded capability rapidly. “Working in the Additive Manufacturing All-in-One facility alongside Royal Navy personnel will provide us with an incredible opportunity to show how additive manufacturing can transform routine submarine maintenance,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding to see the facility come together in Farnborough and even more exciting to see it now deployed at HMNB Clyde.”

Commander Max, the SDG Additive Manufacturing Lead, said the on-site model offered direct benefits for the boats themselves, telling QinetiQ that “by enabling engineers to produce components on-site, we are reducing dependence on complex supply chains and accelerating repair timelines, ultimately improving the submarine’s material state and availability.”

Additive manufacturing has steadily moved from prototype and research applications into mainstream defence engineering use over the past decade, with allied navies including the United States, Australia and the Netherlands all running parallel initiatives to bring the technology into the supply chains supporting their fleets, and the technology is particularly well suited to the production of low-volume, high-specification components for legacy platforms where conventional supply chains can be slow or where original equipment manufacturers may no longer offer parts.