BAE Systems is preparing to transition from its current projects to potential upcoming opportunities such as the Type 83 destroyer and the Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS).
Sir Simon Lister, MD of BAE Systems naval ships, emphasised the shipyard’s commitment to maintaining the UK’s sovereign capability to design complex warships and outlined that engineers are currently transitioning from the Type 26 projects to roles in Australia and Canada.
Sir Simon explained that in three years’ time, engineers be available to move on to the next naval procurement, and the firm says that they are eager to take on the MRSS or begin the early design phases of Type 83, depending on the Ministry of Defence’s direction.
BAE also mentioned that they were looking at potentially bidding for work on the Multi-Role Support Ships using a collaborative model similar to the successful aircraft carrier alliance. This model, which brought together various UK shipbuilders under a unified framework, has proven highly effective for optimising resources and expertise.
Lister highlighted the significant advantages of this approach, particularly in terms of cost efficiency and production timelines.
The Govan facility is not only looking ahead to future British naval projects but also considering potential international collaborations, with Sir Simon stating, “We’ve got eight to nine years of steelwork ahead of us. If there’s no prospect of another class of ship, we’ll need to slow down a bit to bridge the gap. However, we are actively looking for overseas interest in building vessels or moving on to components of the MRSS and Type 83.”
The shipbuilder is keen to leverage its extensive experience and the capabilities honed on the Type 26 projects to compete effectively in the global market.
The shipyard’s current order book is “full” for the time being, reflecting a healthy pipeline of work that provides a stable base for future growth and development. With significant investments already made in the shipyard’s infrastructure and workforce training, BAE Systems is well-positioned to adapt to new projects and challenges.
Lets hope planning for, designing, and ordering the Type 83 destroyer is faster than what happened with the Type 26 frigates
It’s amazing how much BAE has turned everything around since Babcock started building frigates in Scotland 😀
Remember when they expected HMG to pay for their frigate factory.
100%
Only too well. 2012 new frigate factory in Scostoun. 2013 no money for it, tight fisted BAE could have us years ahead.
Tight fisted BAe ? More like fed up with HMG and Politicians messing them around BAe ! Trafalgar B2 SSN non ordered after Vanguards, so zero submarine work at Barrow for 7 years, workforce decimated. Then had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Cost 000’s of jobs and Billions to regenerate it. T45 12 projected, 8 planned to be built but only 6 ordered, result BAe had no work till QE block builds. T26 class delayed, delayed and delayed result BAe had no work except 5 River class OPV, result more job losses. T26 13 announced to be built… Read more »
Absolutely and both Labour and the Tories responsible for the slow motion car crash…..
Of course using PWR2, a substantially larger than the PWR1 ( mod1) reactor plant of the previous boats, meant that the next SSN was obviously going to be a brand new design.
Trafalgar batch 2 would only have been viable if ordered before the Vanguard class, to replace the Valiant class.
The so called peace dividend royally screwed our SSN build drumbeat and sent highly expensive shockwaves forward that would last for many decades.
It’s only AUKUS that promises to finally put things right.
Don’t underestimate the risk of permanent brain drain to Canada and particularly Australia with T26 and AUKUS programs.
True, salaries are quite good in Australia and then there the weather is better. Shame I’m too bloody old to go 😕
Puts a different perspective on it doesn’t it. You can’t keep an effective defence industry via boom and but and it’s taken decades for HM Govt to finally comprehend us. Sadly it’s left much of our industry ruined land vehicles in particular or at best foreign owned. Not only military either too often successful design has led to eventual decline and fall, for instance the High Speed 125 one of the most successful train designs ever, so successful indeed it’s still in operation nearly half a century later even as its success and longevity destroyed the UK owned train design… Read more »
Glad to see an alternative perspective. BAE gets a lot of stick, some of it deserved. But it pales into insignificance compared to the consistency of cluster£ucks in decision making in Westminster. in all likelihood if original numbers were committed too for any given project we would have likely paid as much as we did for half the product. thats not to say we could man the hulls, but in any case a steady drumbeat of hulls coming off the line would allow for selling of partially used hulls, ships not hanging on by their last rivet. And a more… Read more »
Govt orders and local planning obstacles were also influential in that with the delay in the T-26 not being insignificant both in cause and delay. Fault on more than one side.
What we don’t need is more government dithering , they know we need ships , t83 and hopefully more frigates of whatever design they go for , get BAE started on them now to keep production rolling and costs down . We don’t want to end up like the rail industry with the loco manufacturers shutting up shop due to lack of orders from the government .
Surely we need to build more escorts for the RN asap. I hope the next government confirms all the future builds & doubles down on them. Foriegn orders are great if you have the capacity spare.
That’s why they’re looking for foreign orders, because the RN hasn’t got the budget for any more than already planned.
You got to wonder if a significant increase in world tensions might force the governments hand. And you can’t build more stuff overnight.
I’d hope it would force their hand, but once again Labour had also given a vague commitment to 2.5 percent when conditions allow, so never.
Especially if they want or will need to utilise the two carriers, having more escorts for CSGs and LRGs and less dependency on others, for more freedom of operations all round. Having a few more subs in the water would help too.
It’s all well and good increasing the number of hardware (ships) but we don’t have to software (crews) to man them. Theyre rejigging (reducing standards) the signup conditions to get people onboard for both army and royal navy.
Keep saying that on UKDJ bring back Service personnel in recruitment offices not bland Civilians who have idea how too spin a good dit which impresses those wishing too join Watched the Angry Bootneck yesterday in which he stated that Recruits no longer had too be able to Swim when joining up just too increase recruitment ?
Can someone join the dots on how the timeline of T83 could even remotely match T83 coming into FOC before T45 goes OOS.
Asking for Laurel from Ulverston.
DB that made me smile, very pithy M8. I take it you mean Oliver’s M8 🤣
I’d take the T45 OOS date with a large dollop of NaCL.
You’re welcome said Stanley.
Will we ever learn?
If Norway decides on the T26 maybe that could fit in nicely, if there’s actual space at the time.
With a
I believe we could become a real big player in exports likes the type 31 which would keep the men at those yards all the UK in jobs… There are several nations looking at the type 31 for a cheaper Alternative…. And the reality is those nations are getting a very capable ship at bottom price so they could spend a few extra £ giving it defensive and offensive systems….we Have the type 26 world leading but how many 31e can you build for just 1 type 26? 4 to 5?plus the worlda navies know about the Royal Navy and… Read more »
Nice one mate 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The Type 26 has come down to just over 800mil, The first five T31s were at 250mil each but that was before full fitting out with most weapons and Helo. Even so Babcock had to ask for extra cash. A full price would be around 400-450mil going forward I think.
Given recruitment problems I think going for quality is more important.
How are they getting that for £800 m ? Yes I know the first 1-3 are always the dearest and then they get cheaper by 5% – 10.% per. Vessel if only in small numbers? Or are we stripping systems from the type 23’s and giving them a lick of paint? I would use systems from the 23’s for the type 31 and even bulk up the Rivers with a few odds and. Ends. I can see the type 31 doing very well in exports but they may be slightly more expensive because they will be brand new all around… Read more »
I think military service could still be presented in a way that would be popular to many.
The main problem is the left using their relative control of education and disproportionate influence in the media for social engineering. As part of this they are rewriting a lot of British history to generate racist anger they can exploit. The anti jewish marches we see in London on Sats are part of this.
The other factor is clumsy recruitment and the poor pay and conditions. There will be improvement on that after the next election but the first problem will get worse.
I don’t agree with the concept of collaborative bids if it involve the only yards that can build the vessels. It effectively setting up a cartel. BAe and Babcock tried on the FSS. We’re where we are now because of the competitions the government has run, we’ve seen shipbuilding investment at a level.not seen in decades. And we have yards taking about exports for the first time in a long time. If BAe want to hook up with say CL and Babcock with H&W all good but having them all in one cartel must be blocked as it’ll stiffle competition… Read more »