Babcock International, based in Rosyth, is supporting the build of three frigates in Polish shipyards after securing a design contract for the Polish Navy.

After heavy lobbying by the firm itself and by the UK Government, Babcock was earlier this year chosen as what is called ‘the platform design provider and technology partner’ for Poland’s new frigate programme, that just means they’ve sold their frigate design (a frigate is typically a warship with mixed weaponry designed to fight multiple kinds of targets above and below the waves) to Poland. The Arrowhead 140 design, known as the Type 31 Frigate in British service, will be known as the Swordfish class in Polish service. Minister for Defence Procurement, Jeremy Quin, was quoted as saying: “Poland is one of our oldest and closest allies, and we continue to strengthen our partnership to help deter future threats. The Arrowhead 140 frigate will be a formidable addition to Poland’s fleet, providing world-leading capabilities to Poland’s growing naval presence.” This is the second major export win for the firm, which is already building five of these frigates in Rosyth for the Royal Navy, after securing contracts with Indonesia last year to allow the country to build the vessels locally in their own shipyards. Babcock say they are supporting the Polish PGZ-MIECZNIK shipbuilding consortium in the building of three Swordfish class frigates in Polish shipyards by a local workforce, drawing significantly from Polish suppliers and Babcock’s supply chain in Scotland and elsewhere. This month, Babcock announced that they have secured two further contracts relating to Poland’s frigate programme. First, the Class Design Contract and second, the Transfer of Knowledge & Technology framework agreement. Babcock say that the two contracts “underpin the strong economic and trade relations between the United Kingdom and Poland.” Many of you are likely wondering, to what extent does Scotland benefit from exporting military ships or their design licences? Well, I answered this whilst submitting evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee on military shipbuilding in Scotland but I’ll keep it short for the purposes of this article. While the Type 31 Frigate-based vessels ordered by Poland will not be built in Scotland, it is important to remember that there are still several benefits, not only involving reduced unit costs in the longer term for the UK taxpayer ordering similar ships, but also for companies around Scotland and the wider UK making components for these vessels. Export success is also important to the Ministry of Defence; competitive companies, winning export work, enable overheads to be spread, reducing the unit cost of each ship. I’m getting at the idea that a company only building five components for the British Type 31 fleet could now be building ten components for the British, Indonesian and Polish Type 31 frigate fleets. Export orders benefit the supply chain here in Scotland immensely. The exports have turned the Type 31 Frigate from a five-ship class to a ten-ship class. While it is fair to say that there will be significant local supply chain involvement in Indonesia and Poland, it should be noted that the businesses based in Scotland will have the advantage of retaining intellectual property and the fully trained people, putting them in prime position to compete for the work, even overseas. In addition, the export of ships and their components is beneficial for the costs related to maintenance and supply lines when it comes to operating the finished vessels. What I mean by that is that the increased number of units, be they ships or components of ships, in service with navies worldwide makes it far more economical for the company building the components to retain repair and refurbishment facilities for those components here in Scotland. This then sustains jobs and the ability of naval forces to cost effectively repair or replace those components should the need arise. In short, the recent contracts mean that Babcock will share its technology, engineering expertise and industry know-how with PGZ SA, PGZ SW and Remontowa Shipbuilding. The design contract and the transfer of knowledge and technology framework agreement support the further development of the programme, and boost shipbuilding capability in Poland to deliver the Swordfish class frigates. Babcock CEO David Lockwood said: “I am delighted with the progress on the Polish MIECZNIK programme. Our work in Poland builds on the shared interests of the NATO countries. Babcock will deliver first-class frigates that will contribute significantly to the sovereign defence capability in Poland. We look forward to building on our close working relationship with the PGZ-MIECZNIK Consortium.” To top it all off, Babcock recently unveiled plans to recruit 500 workers at Rosyth to help build the five new frigates for the Royal Navy. On both the east and west coasts, at both civil and military shipyards, shipbuilding in Scotland is growing.
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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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DJ
DJ
1 year ago

I fully expect the A140 to land a few more wins. T31, no, not expecting any (including from the UK). T31 is a lesson on how to stuff up what is a very good design. Amazing what you can do if you can keep UK MoD out of it.

Challenger
Challenger
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

T31 is just under-gunned which wouldn’t be a problem for any export customer prepared to pay more for their own specific weapons fit.

Having said that there probably aren’t many nations out there these days looking for a 5,000 ton frigate that won’t want to build it themselves under licence.

Basil
Basil
1 year ago
Reply to  Challenger

Chile, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Brazil, Portugal all require long range patrol ships. A lot of the money is in the internals and some of the easier to ship components rather than the hull so plenty for UK suppliers to benefit from.

Steve
Steve
1 year ago
Reply to  Challenger

This might be a positive, as it will put pressure on the government /mod to upgun ours, if foreign navies start using the same platform, but with extra firepower.

Saying that Poland is rapidly on track to be the largest miltiary power in NATO outside the US, at least from a land power perspective.

Terence Patrick Hewett
Terence Patrick Hewett
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve

Yes.

Marius
Marius
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

Amazing what you can do if you can keep UK MoD out of it.

What are you on about?
The MoD is the instrument by which the voice of the people (Parliament) interacts with the military in terms of defence needs. It is how Democracy works.
A budget is allocated, the MoD via Defence Chiefs decide on spend and acquisition, Type 31 included. You may not like T-31, but the Royal Navy has ordered 5 of them.

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  Marius

And it is not that hard to put a VLS or more Sea Ceptor on board as the designs specifically allows for it. As ex-1SL wants Mk41 and he is in a position of power then it is likely if the budget taps are opened a little more for this to become real. As it is a lot of up arming for not a lot of cash. No thought to the really good bits that exist in the design:- nice big hanger; ample power generation; space for good crew conditions; a decent radar that can be upgraded; mission bay(s); space… Read more »

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago

Presumably the ideal scenario would be for purse strings loosened sufficiently to not only uparm T-31s, but also include same outfit in baseline T-32s, as well as some quietening measures (e.g., rafting machinery, caging GenSets, etc.). Retrofitting T-31 class to same standard technically feasible but uneconomical? Apparent future ConOps for T-31 will be lone patrol in littoral regions where quiet diesel electric subs may be lurking? Foresee a potential problem. 🤔

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

Possibly a good hull sonar set and even a tail as well?

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

The diesels in T31 are in acoustic enclosures already.

I’m not sure why trying to turn a T31 into an ASW asset is so important when we have T26 for that?

It is a bit like saying we need T31 to do AAW: we have T45 for that.

Nobody else in Europe will have AAW or ASW half as good as we do numbers or quality.

Yes, uparm it with a Mk41 VLS: keeps the energy guessing. Add more Sea Ceptor of CAMM-ER/XR or whatever.

Most importantly it is the drone stuff to do ASW or surveillance roles.

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago

Requirements may be driven by planned lone wolf duty cycle. Frigate may need to become jack of all trades, simply to survive in future threat environment.

FormerUSAF
FormerUSAF
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

May be my sense of paranoia in ascendance, but I discern ChiComs lurking in the shadow of Mad Vlad and the slobbering Orcs, in addition to every future ChiCom vassal state.

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

Maybe.

If there is a 8-16 slot Mk41 VLS then some surprises can be added to CAMM?

Half the point of VLS is you never know what is in it till the lid pops and something is heading you way at Mach……

If RN has a mix of missiles adding VLS capacity is a big multiplier.

This was demonstrated by the P8 controlling Harpoon in the latest SINKEX.

Andrew Peter Smith
Andrew Peter Smith
1 year ago
Reply to  FormerUSAF

That’s what frigates are of course

Jonathans
Jonathans
1 year ago

Yes far better that than a stretched corvette at the limit of its design weight. The T31 was and is a victory of pragmatic commissioning.

Also it’s not actually that bad a weapons fit for a what is essentially a long range patrol frigate. But with massive levels of space to upgrade.

Dern
Dern
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

A-140 and T-31 are the same ship. It’s litterally just a different equipment fit.

Robert Blay.
Robert Blay.
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

How has the MOD stuffed it up exactly?

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  Robert Blay.

It hasn’t.

DJ
DJ
1 year ago

George can you please remove the likes of Nigel Collins type scam comments. They lower the tone of the site.

DRS
DRS
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

I think they come through with different emails each time so difficult to police. As for the A140 whilst under powered, good to get something there and then separately up gun them.

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  DRS

All the noise about the weapons load out.

But the project really was about delivering a big hull for sensible money.

If this could be made to happen the number of ships ordered in future could rise. This, on the face of it, has happened.

It was also about making BAE sharpen their pencil: a lot. Which it appears to have worked.

Robert Blay.
Robert Blay.
1 year ago

Exactly. Everyone moans about the cost of new warships. T31 was to buck the trend. Use a current design with lots of space for growth, set a fixed budget, get them in service relatively quickly, and upgrade as we go along if required.

RJM
RJM
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

He always was a Trouble Maker !

Frank62
Frank62
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

Here, here. It’s really annoying. I flag every one I see. Seems the real Nigal Collins is a genuine regular commenter like us but someone is using his name.

Airborne
Airborne
1 year ago
Reply to  DJ

Bit like JohninMKs posts!

Nick C
Nick C
1 year ago

Interesting article, I hope we are going to see a lot more of this sort of defence collaboration coming up. Let’s face facts, the international situation is not good and we need to have as many close allies as we can.
While on this subject of the T31 and derivatives, can we have an article soon giving an update on the programme at Rosyth? There should be some large bits of ship in build now, if Babcock keep to time they should be getting ready for launch of ship 1 about this time next year.

Coll
Coll
1 year ago

I wonder if it would be worth enticing Poland onto the Tempest program.

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  Coll

I don’t think they have aero tech at the level to really be in Tempest. Their aero adventures have been upgrading MIG-29’s etc which is great experience but not really the kind of thing that is going to set the world on fire.

But they might well be a customer as they probably won’t want the US versions as they will want to do some customising.

Coll
Coll
1 year ago

Yes, a customer would be more appropriate.

Expat
Expat
1 year ago

Whilst it would be good to see complete ship orders going to a UK from foreign buyers the reality is the design, subsystems and components are where a huge amount of the value lies. Some of these create long term value for the UK as they have maintenance and service contracts associated with them.

Supportive Bloke
Supportive Bloke
1 year ago
Reply to  Expat

On the other road if we get really efficient at producing warship to high quality and budget, as T31 seems to suggest, that might well change.

There is a big cost to setting up a line to produce ships efficiently and a very big learning curve which equates to risk which in turn equates to likely cost.

Expat
Expat
1 year ago

Yep. I agree but just like us governments need to create jobs so are happy to spend more. But I would love to see foreign orders coming in and I still think there’s a fair chance of some complete orders

Mr Bell
Mr Bell
1 year ago
Reply to  Expat

Until Poland comes along and builds full fat type 31s much better armed and equipped then uk variants for export and undercuts the uk.
Lets hope that doesnt happen. I can see type 31 potentisl getting sales from Chile, new zealand and maybe even Australia to add to Hunter class numbers.

Expat
Expat
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr Bell

With the pound so low its probably quite hard to under cut us 🙂

Jon
Jon
1 year ago
Reply to  Mr Bell

Undercut how? IP was bought by the UK apart from some that stays with Denmark. I don’t think any goes to Poland. The only possible undercutting might be for maintenance work which could be done in Indonesia for forward-based T31s.

PaulW
PaulW
1 year ago
Reply to  Expat

However most parts are sourced off-shore, so fill the pockets of other nations. Aren’t our finance professions great. They really have the UKs interests are heart. It’s certainly not about maximising the share price. They definitely wouldn’t asset strip national assets and sell them to anyone for the most money. Absolutely not. Not.

Expat
Expat
1 year ago
Reply to  PaulW

There’s some big items yes but there a lot if uk sourced components. As for owning a UK company, would you want to own one or take a stake in one? No, cos company owners and directors in the UK are portraid as evil 007 Blowfeld like characters. I’m actually surprised there still people willing to run companies in the UK.

PaulW
PaulW
1 year ago
Reply to  Expat

I’m only too aware of the chase for the quarterly target. Meet it and you get another target. Fail and you get the boot. Sod any long term planning. In the words of Ms Thatcher, ‘there is only now’. Feels like us UK have lost our way. A bit embarrassing to be honest. P.S. I work in design engineering and really enjoy it when I get the chance to experiment without a milestone breathing down my neck.

Expat
Expat
1 year ago
Reply to  PaulW

But the UK is not the inly country to report quarterly US has a much better investor relation. German and Japanese companies report quarterly.

Mr Bell
Mr Bell
1 year ago

Im just glad a 2nd non BAE yard has secured contracts. Means BAE should now be squeezed and throttled to supply more than 8 type 26s but not for £1.26 billion each. I’d say 600-700 million is a fair price whilst still returning profit. So another 2-4 ships to be added to the type 26 order at reduced price with a switch after 10-12 ships built to the type 83.

Frank62
Frank62
1 year ago

It’s great to see us back in the warship export market., I’d like to see us not outgunned by those we export(wether fully built in the UK or licence built or design assisted).

Our T31s should have a minimum of 24 Sea Ceptor SAMs & it is nuts to equip our most expendable frigates with a so called medium gun too light for NGS, leaving only our most expensive AAW DDGs & ASW frigates to put themselves at high risk in that role.

Last edited 1 year ago by Frank62
Marcus Farrington
Marcus Farrington
1 year ago

Poland on a spend spree currently….So Mk41 on a T31 be a no brainer,take your pick then from compatible weapons to carry.Ben Wallace should commit to MK 41 for UK’s 5,massive increase in capability,Maybe sell Wildcats to go on the Polish decks?

Terence Patrick Hewett
Terence Patrick Hewett
1 year ago

Poland’s defence procurement illustrates how much they trust the EU. US for tanks, aircraft and helicopters: UK for warships. South Korea for aircraft. Poland knows that the EU would blackmail them when it suited, if they sourced EU armaments.

AlexS
AlexS
1 year ago

Poland ordered 32 AW 149

Jonathans
Jonathans
1 year ago

It must be breaking BAEs cold heart.

David A
David A
1 year ago

Q the typical British fault finders and doom merchants in the comments… 😃

Scott.
Scott.
1 year ago

Shame we don’t have the capacity to build the first in class for each customer as part of the contract. Would be great if we could actually do that.

IwanR
IwanR
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott.

Why not follow the French and Italians by selling one of the ships under construction?

Scott.
Scott.
1 year ago
Reply to  IwanR

Do the French and Italians build extra to sell or do they sell ships that would have been for their own use?

The UK should build more then it wants and look to sell that extra capacity to others. Would be much better. Could have had two more built here if they did that. That is why domestic capacity should be upgraded.

IwanR
IwanR
1 year ago
Reply to  Scott.

A little bit of both. France’s D651was sold to Egypt and the replacement ship was probably laid down in the same year. Same thing with Italy’s Spartaco Schergat and Emilio Bianchi.

The second French FDI also went to Greece. As can bee seen in the reported change of the delivery schedules for the French ships. They have enough capacity so that it didn’t effect the latter ships though.

So, while the number of ships ordered by each navy remained the same, the delivery schedules shifted a bit.