The First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, visited Babcock International’s Devonport site to view work underway in support of Royal Navy submarine availability and operational readiness, the company stated.
The visit covered programmes and facilities across the site, with time also spent alongside teams from the wider Naval Base. Babcock said the visit reflected “the collaborative environment that underpins delivery” at Devonport, bringing together its Major Nuclear Capital Programmes and Naval Nuclear business.
The company described its approach as centred on lifetime engineering, stating the work “connects the infrastructure we deliver on land with the maintenance and availability of submarines at sea.” Babcock added that its teams are engaged in work spanning “complex maintenance to once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment” and characterised its role as being “at the heart of ensuring the UK’s submarine fleet remains mission-ready, now and for the future.”
The visit comes at a period of considerable focus on the health of the UK’s submarine enterprise. Astute-class SSN availability remained low throughout 2025, with the five boats managing a total of around 300 days at sea between them. The First Sea Lord stated in December 2025 that the long-standing advantage enjoyed by allied forces in the Atlantic is at risk, adding that the margin is now narrow.
Devonport sits at the heart of efforts to address those pressures as it is the UK’s largest naval base and the sole site for the deep maintenance and refit of the Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered submarines, with thousands of engineers, technicians and defence specialists working daily to maintain critical assets and ensure the fleet is ready to deploy. Following the completion of the five-year Future Maritime Support Programme contract on 31 March 2026, Babcock agreed a six-month bridging agreement with the Ministry of Defence to maintain continuity of naval base and nuclear submarine fleet support services, with a new long-term agreement reported to be in the latter stages of negotiation.
A £750 million contract awarded to Babcock covers the delivery of substantial upgrades to existing infrastructure, including a new dock, logistics facilities and modern support buildings, enabling the ongoing delivery of base maintenance periods and deep maintenance projects for current and future classes of submarine, including nuclear defuel.
A separate £200 million refurbishment of 9 Dock, completed in 2024, was aimed at enhancing the Royal Navy’s ability to maintain the Vanguard-class submarines that form the backbone of the UK’s Continuous-At-Sea Nuclear Deterrent.
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