Naval shipbuilding in Scotland to benefit from future work

The Ministry of Defence has renewed a commitment to establish a sustainable demand for naval shipbuilding through a 30-year cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline encompassing over 150 new vessels.

This initiative, they say in response to a Scottish Affairs Committee report, is designed to offer a stable work environment for the industry while promoting investment in facilities, infrastructure, innovation, and skills.

The Scottish Affair Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2022–23 is titled ‘Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding’, you can read the report here.

The Ministry of Defence also say that Scotland holds a vital role in the future of defence shipbuilding, as it is where the Type 26 and Type 31 vessels are being constructed.

The recent Type 26 Batch 2 contract awarded to BAE Systems and the Type 31 vessels being built by Babcock in Rosyth, they say, “demonstrate the UK government’s commitment to fostering Scottish shipbuilding”, safeguarding thousands of jobs and generating new apprenticeships.

The pipeline will undergo updates at each multi-year Spending Review, guaranteeing transparency for the industry. Upcoming naval programmes, including the Type 83 destroyer and Type 32 Frigate, are expected to further contribute to the expansion and future of Scottish naval shipbuilding.

The following is the sections of the aforementioned report the Government replied to, followed by their reply.

The report states

“We wish to underline the importance to Scottish shipyards of maintaining a dependable ‘drumbeat’ of orders to allow them to invest and grow. The days of ‘feast and famine’ must not return. The creation of the National Shipbuilding Strategy suggests that the UK Government appreciates the importance of this point. However, there remains some uncertainty about the pipeline in the 2030s and 2040s, such as the basis on which the Type 45 destroyers will be replaced. The Scottish shipbuilding industry should not be given cause to doubt that it will have a consistent order book in the future, so long as it continues to deliver on its commitments to its Government customers. (Paragraph 51)

The UK Government should provide greater clarity about the work that will fill the whole of the 30-year shipbuilding pipeline into the 2030s and 2040s. It is of course difficult to calculate precise military needs beyond 2050. However, the UK Government should give Scottish shipbuilders the confidence to continue to invest in the future with a clear commitment that it will strategically use its contracts to sustain the national capacity to design and build warships in Scotland, so long as industry continues to deliver on its own contractual commitments. (Paragraph

Recent developments have introduced uncertainty about some orders in the pipeline and whether it sets out a clear ‘drumbeat’ of orders needed to sustain Scottish shipyards. The Fleet Solid Support Ships and the National Flagship are two examples. There has been some media speculation about the Type 32s, although the UK Government have stated: “The strategic and long-term investments continue to be on track and will increase the capability and size of the fleet.”

The reply from Government:

“The MOD fully recognises the importance of maintaining a regular drumbeat of orders across the Shipbuilding industry. The NSbS is clear that we do not want a return to the ‘boom and bust’ cycles of historic Naval demand, but to provide a more sustainable demand signal from Government as a whole, providing the certainty required by industry. The 30-year cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline of over 150 new vessels aims to do just that. It sets out a huge range of opportunities for UK shipyards and the variety of vessels creates a baseline of volume to encourage industry investment in facilities, infrastructure, innovation and skills. As the pipeline spans a 30-year period, it is subject to change and the details of shipbuilding programmes in the later decades will come with time. Nonetheless, the NSO has committed to updating the shipbuilding pipeline at each multi-year Spending Review to ensure industry has a transparent pipeline of work to plan against.

As the committee have noted, Scotland plays a vital role in defence shipbuilding with both Type 26 and Type 31 being built in Scotland. This is enabled by the strength of the local maritime infrastructure, skills, training and academic resources, which creates expertise in both naval and civil shipbuilding and engineering. The recent announcement of the Type 26 Batch 2 contract with BAE Systems reaffirmed the UK Government’s commitment to shipbuilding in Scotland, which will protect over 1,700 jobs in Scotland and more than 4,000 jobs across the wider UK maritime supply chain into the 2030’s.

The Royal Navy’s Type 31 vessels are being built by Babcock in Rosyth. New facilities and upgrades to existing site infrastructure are being delivered at the shipyard. The New Assembly Hall has cost £31.5 million, which is part of a £60 million investment in Rosyth, in addition to the circa £100 million invested over the last decade. At its height, Babcock has said the programme will employ a workforce of around 1,250 highly-skilled roles in multiple locations throughout the UK, with around 150 new technical apprenticeships to be created. Babcock also envisage that the Design and Build of T31 will support a further 1,250 roles within the wider UK supply chain, including with small and medium enterprises.

The Type 83 destroyer will replace the Type 45 destroyers and will be a key part of the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) that will provide area air defence and offensive strike options to the Carrier Strike Group from the mid-2030s. The department will continue to work with industry and will engage at the earliest opportunity to communicate the chosen procurement strategy. Turning to the Type 32 Frigate programme, this remains a key part of the future fleet. Work continues to ensure the programme is affordable in order to deliver the ships the Royal Navy and Marines need. These ships will be UK-built, with the procurement route yet to be determined.”