Babcock Team 31 have announced the second round of supply chain contract awards for UK and European firms to support the Royal Navy’s Type 31 general purpose frigate programme.

Rolls-Royce is now a major supplier to the programme with its brand MTU, delivering the Main Engines and Diesel Generators for the Frigates, which will be manufactured in Germany.

Renk, will provide the main reduction gearboxes, and MAN Energy Solutions will supply the propellers and propeller shaft lines.

In addition, Blunox are contracted to supply the exhaust environmental equipment that significantly reduces emissions from the Main Engines and Diesel Generators. Combined with the subcontract placed with Darchem Engineering Ltd, will supply the intake and exhaust systems for the main engines and generators, rounding out the key propulsion system subcontracts.

We are also pleased to announce award of the Chilled Water Plant subcontract with Novenco AS, providing critical system capability for the HVAC system.

The Type 31 Programme will deliver prosperity into shipbuilding and the extended supply chain. The scale of this investment, principally in design, engineering, project management, procurement and advanced manufacturing skills, has an enduring positive impact on the UK.

Sean Donaldson, Managing Director for Energy & Marine, said:

“Team 31 have committed to a programme of investments to deliver prosperity in line with the National Shipbuilding Strategy.  We are delighted to welcome these key suppliers to the supply chain for the Type 31 frigate programme, and we continue to engage with additional suppliers to support this exciting programme for Babcock and the Royal Navy.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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80 COMMENTS

    • Its difficult to say
      But with the angst against China from most of the western world who knows whats going to happen
      I know Trump blows his top a lot but this time he is really angry
      So who knows whats going to happen
      So yes we need as many as we can and a lot faster than the build rate now

    • This aftermath will have a long tail. If the govt want to sustain the economy, well one way to do that will be to build warships.

      But frankly assuming we come out of lockdown, will people be buying say cars? Assuming our car industry restarts, who abroad is willing to import anybody’s cars?
      Things may quickly recover. Let’s hope so. But frankly I would suggest to the govt (yes I know I’m only a bloke on a sofa) that they go for broke and build a new shipyard and build these RN support and supply ships. Creates money jobs and strategic investment.

      And on a similar topic… who will be building any cruise ships in the near future. Thank God we are not as a country dependent on building any.

      We need to be reminding politicians of the meaning of the word “strategic” !!

      • They certainly should build warships continuously.
        Keep the hull design for 31 and 26 and just improve the design.
        All the money goes back into the economy where it came from in the first place and we’ll get much better value, allowing us to compete better on the world stage selling warships

    • Given HS2 is still going ahead I think Type 31 will.

      After the experience of such widespread home-working and the safety from contagion offered by cars versus public transport, we’ll probably see a decline in demand for public transport.

      Meanwhile we are more likely to see a destabilised world, with greater nationalism, competition for resources, and recriminations against China. General purpose frigates to safeguard our international trade routes will be needed more than ever.

      We’ll need Type 31 more than HS2

      • We need both. However, we need more RN PIDs and more fighting platforms as well as a hull common across RFA and future landing platforms, hospital and aviation support.

        • There is certainly a strong case for fitting these classes of RFA ships with unitary engines and other systems, but a hull fits all probably needs rethinking. Some variants need docks others ramps.

          • 1 PID = 1 body. BritArmy has several thousand surplus PIDs that they could give up to the Navy (which the Navy could fill), but won’t.

            When you accept that you don’t need several thousand PIDs (or can’t fill them) career opportunities are lost for officers…

        • No, HS2 is a blatent waste of billions when we’ve been told all departments have to cut, cut, cut & keep on cutting. So much more better places to use the money than HS2. One of which would be to increaee our escort fleet to something that can actually match our needs rather than falling well short as it does today.

          • Frank62 – A week is a long time in Politics as the saying goes – HS2 was given a vote of confidence pre Covid19,but personally I think its now become one of those Projects that is too big to be cancelled at this stage,even with the expected Economic Landscape completely changing.

          • Yeah, but none of that cutting is actually necessary is it?
            That’s just Tory hatred of services when they could cut taxes instead.
            They should build a high speed network across the North as well though.

      • I don’t think that you can compare HS2 with Type 31s as projects. HS2 has a massive public profile and is core to Boris’s plans for bridging the economic north-south divide. Type 31s are, outside of the defence community and fantasy fleet enthusiasts, of little interest to the wider public!

        • HS2 has nothing to do with bridging North South divide, most Northerners are against it and would rather have improved services in the North. (Heck it doesn’t even go to the North.)
          Its one of that plonker Cameron’s pet projects.

          Besides, why build something that isn’t going to be needed now?

          • Oh yes it does….and in case you have not noticed, planning takes HS2 to Leeds and Manchester in phase 2. I think that you will find that Mayors/the business community very much want HS2 (ask Andy Burnham). And, quite how do know it isn’t going to be needed…most transport experts argue that it is essential for economic growth in Britain. With a five year term ahead of them, Boris and the DoT will ensure that it does get built. None of which addresses the main point of my post which you have ignored.

          • Leeds and Manchester are Midlands, not North. But what the Midlands and North needs are faster reliable commuter services, not long distance services to London. With these, then the cities aggregate together into a larger urban area. The larger an urban area, the more productive and financially successful it is. That’s what the Chinese have done.
            (Andy Bunham is a failed Labour politician, completely irrelevant.)

            Those transport experts were making their predictions a decade ago. Times have changed in the last month, or haven’t you noticed the lockdown?
            Vast numbers of daily commuters (me!) are now successfully working from home. Saves me 3 hours a day and £500 a month. How many commuters will want to go back to that every day? Popping into the office occasionally maybe, not every day.
            And employers can now radically down size office costs and leases, probably by 75% if they want to. Which given the impending recession I suspect they probably will.

            The general public don’t pay a huge amount of notice to fleet numbers during peacetime. But we’re going to see a period of instability, and more military action after this. The public will notice that the U.K. can’t get needed supplies from abroad if the navy can’t protect that trade. (A point in my original post which you ignored which is why I didn’t answer your main point – I already had!! ?‍♂️)

          • Ermm…Leeds and Manchester are in the Midlands!!! Geography not your strong point then! The commuter services are a separate issue that is already being addressed with the purchase of substantial numbers of longer trains. Unfortunately they need longer platforms…the building work has begun on these at over 100 stations. Andy Burnham is not a failed Labour politician…he happens to be Mayor of Manchester! How do you know that you won’t be returning to your office….employers will want their staff back where they can keep an eye on them.
            The navy needs to protect our trade…Straits of Hormuz…where else? In case you hadn’t noticed we are not living in the C19th….”I say Caruthers, those damned Fuzzie Wuzzies are nicking our rations again…send a gunboat Arf Arf”
            I know its a Sunny Sunday afternoon…but how much have you actually imbibed?

          • No I’m from the real North, Tyneside, and those of us from the five counties (Northumberland, Cumbria, Tyne & Wear, Durham and Teeside) regard Yorkshire as Midlands ?

            Commuter services aren’t a separate issue. They often use the same infrastructure and funding tends to come from the same big money pot. What the North, and the Midlands need are new faster lines to decrease journey times. Old routes that wind their way between cities won’t ‘reduce the distance’ through higher speeds. Increasing capacity on current routes is a sticking plaster.

            Burnham is a failure. His only achievement was realising that Momentum made Labour unelectable nationally and his best chance of staying in the gravy train being to jump into local politics.

            Because my employer has already told me in my daily videoconferences; that’s probably too high tech for you though. Asking around friends; guess you don’t have any, I’m hearing that more and more. Work from home, occasional visits to office when needed is the future.

            Anywhere needed, preferably with the support of allies. Or do you think we should scrap our blue water capability and model ourselves on the Republic of Ireland’s naval forces? (You sound like one of those losers on the Remain side who see the U.K. as no better than Eire or Iceland.)

          • Sean you have totally embarrassed yourself saying Manchester and Leeds are not in the north, it will be hard for you to ever live that down on here

            Listen up everyone we don’t need anymore public transport, Seans boss has told him what the future is, work from home and pop into the office when needed, you heard it here first

            Andy Burnham is the Mayor of the third largest city in the UK, whatever spin you want to try put on that it will never be regarded as a failure

          • No you’ve embarrassed yourself as having no humour. But you clearly don’t know anyone from the north east or north west, that’s the common view there. Guess you’ve never made it north of the Watford Gap.

            No just mine, clearly you have no friends either to either verify or deny this. There will be a huge switch as company’s realise that work still gets done at home. Only Neanderthal bosses who run a presenteeism culture will demand people to work from the office if they could work from home instead. Let’s faces it, bosses like that engender no loyalty and doom their businesses to decline.

            But glad to see you resort to the ad hominem attacks, that’s the definitive indicator that you’re lost the debate on logic. I win! ?

          • It wasn’t humour, you were being serious until you realised how stupid it was and backtracked

            I’m born and raised just outside of Manchester, I’ve worked in the north west my whole life, I have worked with the general public for 15 years straight and I have never met anyone who doesn’t think they live in the north west, it’s not the common view at all

            Working from home will suit some people but certainly not everyone, and a lot of people cannot work from home, everyone does not commute to just go work in offices

            Sean there is only one person here who is telling people they have no friends and video conferences are too high tech for us, you’re the one making personal attacks read your previous posts

            You have not “won” anything, you’re showing everyone a classic example of how not to debate

          • Descending into abject silliness…….the Regional definitions of our country are defined by long held conventions not by whimsical humour. As mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham wields the sort of power that backbench MPs can only dream of. Why would anyone consider him a failure. It’s a sign of the times that people now think that they can say anything regardless of whether it is true or not. You are the sort of overconfident contributor that makes a nonsense of some of these threads. And so quick to level personal abuse for no good reason.

          • Mate, you totally got that wrong, The Midlands is anything North of the A303. With anything past the M4 being considered proper North. Anything East of the Tamar, well that’s basically France and anything West of the Tamar is God’s country. I thought everyone knew that….

          • Im from gods country but now live in beautiful Camarthenshire
            So the question is “where does the am i?

          • What a relief, I thought perhaps you’d used Google to translate direct from the Welsh!

          • Agree Manchester and Leeds are the midlands.
            Lancaster, Carlisle, Newcastle are the north. People from Manchester and Leeds, bless them like to think of themselves as northeners, but they most certainly are not.

          • Manchester and Leeds are the Midlands?? Good Lord no, no, no.

            As a softy southerner, my take on things is Worcester, Birmingham,Nottingham, Lincoln axis, that is your Midlands.

            Manchester, Leeds and above are “The North”

            The more extreme of us southern home counties types has anything north of the Thames being north, to be fair.

          • LOL. Burnham was smart. He could see there was no way someone like himself was going to get into cabinet when the Labour party was under the control of a group of headbangers. Better to retreat to Manchester and do something useful.

          • errmmm, I was student in Manchester a long time ago and I can assure you I was most definitely “a southerner” and mancs most definitely considered themselves “northern”. now my roomie was a Geordie and he considered mancs as “midlanders.” Make of that what you will but by and large, Manchester and leeds are considerd in the north.

          • H. The current quoted costs of HS2. Do they include Phase 2 or just the initial route to Birmingham?

          • Indeed nothing would ever get built if we relied on people prior to it claiming we don’t need it right back to the start of the Industrial Revolution. Indeed no one would have heard of Brunel if we had listened to all those who claimed everything he did was unnecessary, indeed fighting against that attitude killed him in the end. The difference between the doers in the East who go out of the way to making it happen and the negativity of the West, this part in particular, who are happy to sit on their laurels and just do the basics with that ‘can’t be done Attitude’ on anything beyond the norm has been a stark feature of our decline over many years and going from th ire front of technology to an increasingly distant follower. The list of suppliers on this project only emphasises it.

          • I don’t understand why they don’t build from north going south also, or from Birmingham outwards.

          • Ahah another person who doesn’t understand what HS2 is and how it will benefit regional rail services.

            The whole point about HS2 is to separate high speed North services from regional rail. This increases capacity on the current rail network.

      • I don’t see how HS2 can go ahead right now. The political capital Boris wanted from it, he can get from his support of the NHS or his support for northern jobs and businesses (and southern too.) With the many 10s of billions of unexpected spending (and rising), something will have to give. part of it may be defence and other departments, part of it will be vanity spending of which I include HS2. The very people who could afford to use HS2 will now be tele-working and I don’t see that genie going back in the bottle now that cloud services, remote working, fast internet are proven. Supporting connectivity should be more important than HS2 right now. CV19 has changed everything.

    • Steve,

      That is a very good question. I agree with the others on this thread and think that whilst nothing is certain Boris will not cut back even further as the economy is going to be in a shambles by the time this is all over.

      I never thought that any UK Government, let alone a Tory Government, would pay 80% of people’s salaries. Also, Boris indicated that he wants the UK to lead a new Green Industrial Revolution.

      So taking all of that I hope that the UK goes for a Roosevelt style New Deal and look to rebuild our infrastructure along Green Economic lines. So push HS2 to John O’Groats if needs be… 🙂 Build on shore wind and solar farms, turn the taps on for energy efficient housing, new hospitals (with more doctors and nurses with pay rises!!!), new schools, and so on and so on.

      On the industrial front I’d say ship building would be a crucial part of the project along with say new industrial capabilies such as a battery manufacturing plant for the UK Electric Vehicle industry.

      I would also suggest that UK rules for Small and Medium Enterprises participating or indeed leading in Government projects, from research to supply, be relaxed. I have tried to access UK Government projects and found that the enterprise I was working for did not qualify, despite running a large EU research project with multiple University and SME participants. This would require a change in HM Treasury rules – perhaps the toughest job of the lot…

      All of this would cost a fortune and would leave a huge debt pile, but investing in infrastructure always pays back in the long and the huge debts from two World Wars were repaid in the end. The positive legacy could be a world leading position in a new Green Economy.

      A tougher issue will be how do we as a society reorganise our pay structures. The vast majority of key workers are on minimum wages. We depend on them, not the billionaire CEO’s who go to Davos every year, but binmen, cleaners, power and water workers, food processing workers – all of them ignored and taken for granted, many of whom have been treated like cannon fodder by employers (read a report on BBC about a Hog Processing plant in the US – awful – but I can’t find now). How do we wrestle the excessive salaries and bloated bonuses from these fat cats and pay those we really depend on?

      OK, that’s my burst of optimism done for now, and I even got a little rant in at the end. Like I said good question 🙂

      Fingers Crossed we get to live through a Green Renaissance.

    • Don’t hate me for saying it but its conceivable that we’ll see more 31’s over time rather than less. They’re cheap, a lot cheaper than a 26, we’ll not be getting any more of them I would have thought.

    • I hope the mistake of Austerity which led to the UK being one of the slowest first world countries to recover from the last economic crash will not be repeated and the government will instead take a more Keynesian approach, an approach which they were just gearing up for implementing with the current stalling world economy before the outbreak started.

      • It certainly wasn’t one of the slowest, but certainly could have emerged faster with for government investment around 2015. Realistically the Tories know they need to start spending Covid or no Covid. I’m not big into protectionism but this has been a real wake up call that the UK should not rely on other countries for basic medical equipment and needs to become more self reliant.

        We import more cars from Germany than we produce in total so frankly I couldn’t give a toss if our car exports drop off to Europe if our imports drop off at the same rate.

    • We’ll need to get the economy going, which wont be aided by shelving agreed government contracts. What’s perhaps more likely is seeing what can be sent to the breakers/sold with the angle that it’s no longer required following strategic re-review. Bless me, I’m even starting to carry out that mind game myself!

      • Of course, outside of actual defence assets required, post C-19 an economically injured UK will not be able to afford, politically or financially, to favour a Scotland pushing continued uncertainty over becoming independent.

        • Scottish independence is a Luxury concept at the best of times. Ain’t going to happen. Scotland is too small and would become just another plaything of paris and berlin and how would they enjoy those arrogant soads any more than rich city types?

          • That is entirely the Scot’s own decision, naturally. It’s not at all beyond credence that the EU will immediately welcome Scotland with open arms – from their political objectives more so than due diligence, I’d hazard.
            But, as you appear to suggest, why ‘independence’ would lead you to jump from the fryingpan of a devolving UK into the fire of the increasingly centralised EU I cannot square. But then the SNP do seem to me to follow an ongoing philosophy of supporting anyone so long as it’s not the English (I daresay they’re keen football fans)
            My main point remains that of the potential hazard to the ‘rump UK’ following Covid and the consideration that the UK would necessarily have to give to the above.

          • The more any Westminster based PM states that Scotland will not be allowed another referendum on Independence the more the people who live in Scotland want one…it is inevitable.

          • Hi 4thwatch
            There are many good arguments against Scottish separatism, but “Scotland is too small” isn’t one of them. SNP recruiting sergeants always turn those words to their advantage – mainly because they’re not true. (IMHO!)
            But how about: COVID-19 demonstrating the resilience and mutual support of the United Kingdom? Maybe that could be a more productive approach?

    • I don’t Steve, but I have a fatal optimism. I think we will see a major investment in more procurement, including batches of Type 31.

      The reason is simple: we must spend money to stimulate the economy, to secure jobs and invest in infrastructure.

      Now, how much money do you think they have to do this? It’s HUNDREDS of billions of pounds.

      They need to spend wisely to get the money to the people and make the country more productive. So, investing in high value manufacturing in the U.K., especially for export, is going to be a priority.

      • Agreed, HMG are going to borrow hundreds of billions – £200 billion already pledged. And given interest rates are virtually zero, why not? The issue is never the size of debt carried, the issue is the cost of interest in the debt. Low interest rates make a large debt more affordable.

    • Steve Salt – Im another that would hate to try and predict what will happen in the World and more importantly the UK post Covid19,nothing will ever be the same is all id say.More money for the NHS is probably a certainty but Defense-wise I was confident with the SDSR coming,but now im not sure at all.

  2. So the only thing British about these ships is final assembly. Danish design, German powerplant, Swedish guns, Dutch CMS. UK can supply all these subsystems and the contract should have required UK sourcing..Given the lowish profit margins, the important criterion is where the work is done, not who owns the company..
    If the pandemic forces cancellation, what will the UK really lose? Not much in financial terms and not much in naval capability either._ popgun main armament, minimal air defence and no anti submarine weapons ( except a helicopter that could operate from a much simpler cheaper ship.)
    This has happened as a direct result of the cost of the carriers and their aircraft neither of which the UK actually needs. We need well armed relevant self defence forces not expeditionary capabilities.

  3. It’s good to see projects like this moving along ,however I didnt realise the propulsion system including props were to be made in Germany, .if we want to recover the economy to a level that permits decent spending levels as many parts as possible should be made in the UK. In my opinion it will take every British person to do their bit, prior to this I was seeking a new car , when this is over I’ll be buying a Nissan fron Sunderland, from small acorns and all that . I look into my works car park and about 80% cars are made in Germany , I know they are good but if you love the NHS and all that we really need to buy British for the foreseeable

    • I’m doing my bit in terms of food as i’m buying exclusively British produce. I’m checking the labels etc. Also I’ve told my wife we’re buying British clothing as much as possible from now on. One of the issues is that the UK government (including Thatcher) became dogmatic about not supporting UK industry. I’m a tory but I can see this was clearly a massive mistake. I think we also misdiagnosed what the main issues with British business were and still are and this has a lot to do with poor quality and overmanaged management always looking for the fast buck instead of strategic long term returns. I think the UK should set up a new technical management school free for all engineers and scientists to teach them how to manage businesses or we will continue to be run by lawyers, accountants and bankers…

      • You have to remember what business and especially manufacturing was like in the 70’s and 80’s. There was a severe disconnect between management and workers, i.e. the unions. This led to strikes, never producing a product on time and no quality control. So the establishment and politicians lost faith in our country to produce anything of value. To be brutally honest, the country needed someone like Thatcher to get it back on track. A lot of people disagreed, especially the unions, as their influence waned. However, it changed how business was to be done. It did mean however, we brought in companies to shake things up, such as Honda, Nissan and Toyota which had a a thoroughly Japanese work ethic, but it worked. It also meant the Government failed to invest in our organic industry, as it felt it was diseased and not worth saving. This can now be viewed as a mistake, as one a service is lost its horrendously difficult and expansive to rebuild, just look at the Astute program. However, if we are to learn anything from this pandemic is that you cannot rely on other Nations to bail you out. You must have at least the capability to produce the goods on this country!

        • At the time I was as justifiably pissed with red union leaders who thought they owned the company and was glad to see the back of ‘the unions’. However, there must also have been very tired and unimaginative management. What was most remarkable to me was the turn around that new foreign ownership achieved in short order by using virtually the exact same workforce.
          I’m a tory, i.e. in basic phylosophy, not Tory as in political party membership and adherence to kneejerk tribalism, as so many MPs seem to be on all sides – not unlike a union of old! Most of us are like this, of course, and want fully considered, informed action by our parliamentary representatives for the benefit of all.
          Regrettably, elsewhere there still appear to be many en-Titled persona, managers, and certainly ‘investment’ companies who just want a quick buck and to hell with their long term responsibilities to society.
          I’d love to see more of the generated wealth of companies filter down proportionately to the loyal employees who’ve helped create it.
          Regards

    • Last prop maker in the UK went bust. The German one got their government help to stay afloat. Minor scandal at the time.

  4. Is the Babcock powertrain the same as the Danish originals or an upgrade. I like the Type 31 it looks big and rugged like a properly designed and built LandRover Defender. I just hope it gets an A/S and passive defence upgrade when funds allow.

    • For patrol and constabulary work a 57mm gun is good enough. These are very potent weapons with multiple selectable ammunition types and the ability to put down a daunting weight of fire.
      No good for naval gunfire support to land forces though.

      • It is impossible in a war for2nd rate ships to be kept out of harms way, any enemy would not discriminate. With such a tiny fleet we need each escort to be up to a minimum standard, which the 57mm doesn’t achieve. It’s the cheaper warships we should be hazarding for NGS, not making them incapable so we have to hazard our best.

  8. Now Rolls Royce own MTU, shouldn’t Rolls Royce do what the Germans do. That is by a UK manufact6uring firm, asset strip it and keep just the design and engineering within the UK to protect German manufacturing steam Turbine at Heaton, Kirkstall Valley Forge ERF etc,. Kioll off UK manufacturing keep some design and engineering with sales staff. The UK needs to be doing this now. China did with MG too. What’s happening to Longbridge. Is there new factory there now?

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