Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney has pressed ministers to ensure that steel from Scotland is used in the landmark deal to build five Type 26 frigates for Norway.
Speaking at Holyrood, Sweeney said: “Scotland—by which I mean Glasgow—has won the biggest shipbuilding export order in this country’s history, with five Type 26 frigates going to Norway. However, the frustration is that, as it currently stands, no Scottish steel plate will be able to be supplied to that programme unless we can get Dalzell back up and running. Will the minister give an assurance that he will do all that he can to get it back up and running, so that we can get steel plate from Scotland into those fantastic Scottish frigates?”
Responding, Business Minister Ivan McKee said the government was committed to supporting the Dalzell site. “I give that assurance. As I have said, we have been working extensively with GFG on the potential for new orders. I have also indicated that there were maritime orders in the pipeline, and we will be able to give more information on that in the near future,” he told MSPs.
McKee added that the site remained operational only due to government intervention. “We will continue to work with the owners to look for other opportunities to get the plant back up and running, but it is worth recognising that it is only through the work of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise that the plant is still capable of fulfilling those orders, as it has been supported through this period of time.”
The exchange followed Sunday’s announcement of the £10 billion contract for Norway to acquire BAE Systems’ Type 26 anti-submarine frigates, which will be built on the Clyde.
The UK Government and BAE Systems have secured more work for Glasgow’s shipyards after Norway confirmed it will buy the Type 26 frigate, with the Clyde set to play a central role in the programme.
Deliveries to the Royal Norwegian Navy are expected to begin in 2030, tying the future of Scottish shipbuilding more closely into NATO’s northern defence.
The Clyde is already busy turning out the Royal Navy’s eight Type 26s, with the first three ordered in 2017 and a further five added in a £4.2 billion deal signed in 2022. That contract underpins about 1,700 jobs directly at the Govan and Scotstoun yards, with another 2,300 spread through the wider UK supply chain. BAE has also poured more than £300 million into upgrading the facilities to keep the line moving for the next decade.
“It is good news for the Clyde. Securing this work gives us confidence for the future and keeps skilled jobs here in Glasgow,” one yard worker told UK Defence Journal.
Norway is expected to order at least five frigates, enough to replace its four surviving Fridtjof Nansen-class ships and rebuild the numbers lost after the sinking of HNoMS Helge Ingstad in 2018. If confirmed, the deal would make the Clyde the construction hub for more than twenty Type 26s worldwide, counting ships already committed for Britain, Australia and Canada.
The impact reaches beyond BAE. Ferguson Marine, further downriver at Port Glasgow, has already won work on the programme, fabricating structural modules for the fourth Royal Navy ship, HMS Birmingham. For a yard that has struggled in recent years, these contracts provide a lifeline and show how the Type 26 supply chain is spreading benefits across Scotland.
Economically, the numbers are significant. Defence spending on frigates alone is estimated to support more than 12,000 jobs in Scotland when supply chains are factored in. Every major contract brings a multiplier effect across the region, from steel cutting to advanced electronics, reinforcing the Clyde’s place as one of the UK’s most important industrial clusters.
The Norwegian decision also has a strategic dimension. By joining the Type 26 community alongside the UK, Canada and Australia, Oslo ties itself into a long-term multinational programme with shared training, maintenance and upgrades. For the Clyde, it means the yard is now building ships not just for the Royal Navy, but for NATO allies facing the same threats in the North Atlantic and High North.
With the order book stretching well into the 2030s, Glasgow’s yards are secured as the heart of Britain’s advanced warship production, a position strengthened rather than threatened by the internationalisation of the programme.
Whilst it is good news the reason we are winning is that it isn’t feeding a massive feather bedded WorkFare scheme and we are being competitive in sourcing.
So be very careful what you wish for in terms of supply chain.
MOD budget is stretched enough without taking on other problems – as that would be The Starmer touch to just take the money to subsidise steel out of defence.
Exactly, I want to build and export the best warships in the world at a reasonable price. The best way to do that is to make sure we get the best inputs. We should buy the best steel (domestically or from allies) for the job.
We are a small island, we will never be able to produce every component for something as complicated as a warship and the tiny amount of steel being used will have zero impact on our domestic steel industry.
We need to move on from this 20th century obsession with processed iron alloys, it’s not longer a very important industry.
For an island nation that needs ships for its defence and trade the idea that steel for shipbuilding is not important shows how blind we have become to our real and unchanged vulnerabilities. Anything over, under or sailing on the sea is of crucial importance to the U.K. and this extends way beyond our home waters.
Steel is still a critical component in all national infrastructure including railways, all news buildings and of course military equipment. The ability to manufacture as many of the numerous grades required is therefore a critical national requirement, which even our mainstream political parties seemed to have realised.
It is not a 20th century obsession but what is dangerous is our politicians wish to achieve net zero at the expense of all our remaining heavy industries because no other country in Europe is deliberately self harming their economy and by that it’s defence capability in this way.
The important thing is to retain a viable U.K. including Scottish steel making industry and building ships for export is an opportunity to perhaps grow and sustain this critical industry.
Meanwhile in the real world, specialist steel requires elements that dont physical exist in the country. The idea that there’s a magic wand that you can wave and not be dependent on imports is just plain silly. During the largest war in human history the UK built 1000s of aircraft from imported Aluminium ore. There is no ore in the country and yet that didn’t stop production.
The winning of export orders for the T26 and T31, and the national shipbuilding strategy in general, means it is imperative that we also produce our own steel of the right grade.
We also may need the facilities in case of an impending war. I am totally dumbfounded how the lessons of being an island during the time of war have been forgotten.
Might I revise that for you.
Ang war that comes won’t allow time to build a fleet as in ‘82 we fight with what we have that can be rapidly upgraded.
Which is why ordering more T31+ is urgently needed preferably with Mk41 fitted – having hulls that are built or in an advanced state of build is what makes a difference.
Whilst in time of war a five year build can probably be shortened to 18 months a conflict will be over before that.
It’s the long lead time items that really bring everyone unstuck. UK idiot practice (caused by clueless Treasury rules) vastly increases the risk. Yesterday’s radar or gun might not be the best, but if it’s still in the shed, that fast build frigate might make it to sea in a usable state before the war ends.
Unfortunately Mr Sweeney is some 30/35 years too late in looking for a Scottish steel industry…. Even UK produced steel would be very difficult to do now…