The MP for Dunfermline and Dollar has called on the Ministry of Defence to confirm that the Royal Navy’s planned Common Combat Vessel will be based on the Type 31 hull and built at Rosyth, and said he is waiting on decisions covering three other strands of work at the Fife yard.
Graeme Downie said: “The workforce have shown their skill time and time again and because of that the outlook for Rosyth Dockyard is very bright indeed. The Secretary of State knows I will continue to ask him to everything he can to secure a pipeline of further work.
“I know how hard he is working on new export orders of Type 31 and I hope we will hear good news soon on Submarine Recycling and contingent dock facilities. I also want to see MoD confirm that they plan to base the Common Combat Vessel (CCV) on the Type 31 hull and for that to be built at Rosyth as well.”
The comments follow a visit to the yard on Friday by Wes Streeting, his first trip to Scotland since becoming Defence Secretary, during which he met workers and apprentices on the Type 31 programme.
Babcock is building five Type 31 frigates at Rosyth under a £1.25 billion contract placed in 2019. The Ministry of Defence says the programme sustains 2,500 skilled jobs across Scotland and the UK supply chain, along with 400 apprenticeships set up through partnerships with colleges in Fife and elsewhere in Scotland.
Delivery has slipped. The department now expects the first ship to be handed over by the end of the decade, and Babcock has set aside around £140 million against design changes and rework.
The Common Combat Vessel is the Royal Navy’s planned general purpose warship, intended to be built in numbers and offered for export. The MOD has not said which hull form it will use.
Mr Streeting said during his visit: “From the skilled workers and apprentices building the next generation of Royal Navy warships at Rosyth, to the service families who support our Armed Forces every day, Scotland sits at the heart of our national security.
“It is inspiring to see proud heritage combining with modern technology to make our country fit for the future. That also presents huge opportunities for jobs and reindustrialisation.”
Harry Holt, chief executive of Babcock International Group, said: “The defence industry makes a vital contribution to Scotland’s economy, sustaining thousands of skilled jobs and apprenticeships. Our workforce and operations at Rosyth are a clear demonstration of this, delivering sovereign capability, supporting economic growth, and contributing to UK reindustrialisation.
“We look forward to working with the Defence Secretary and the Ministry of Defence as they implement the Defence Investment Plan, further strengthening our sovereign and export capabilities and the defence of our nation.”
When was the original ISD from 2019?
In 2024 NL suggested first quarter of 2027 for Venturer. And approximately 12 months between each subsequent vessel.
SAurely a batch 2 of the type 31s would be an excellent idea that would mean 24 escort ships and would mean the type 45s and 26s could be used for carrier duties without having to be seconded to other duties
Similar to my thoughts, I would much rather a batch 2 T31 but equipped ‘with’ not ‘for’ all the necessary hardware to make it an effective general purpose frigate. I just don’t think it’s the best suited ship to be an air defence mothership.
Morning mate,
2023 with a 12 month delivery rate there after, according to google… but lets face it that was always a silly schedule for a yard that had never been project lead on a warship build before. The T31 was always a victim of the MoD’s usual conspiracy of optimism affliction, but with the T31 there has always been a whiff of unrealistic demands and expectations, probably from the grown ups who failed to order the ships in good time in the first place.
Babcock have obviously run into trouble, but they seem to have tackled the issues and put them right and have accepted their liability with little or no obvious push back or demands for more money – compared to Ajax and other projects where the established big primes seem to get bottomless wallets opened for them Babcock have just cracked on. To me that earns them some level of respect and sets them apart from established primes. I just hope they get more work and the chance to show they have learnt some lessons. We need the competition to keep BAE Systems honest if nothing else.
We need more frigates and destroyers in spite of the move to drones as I think the T9x concepts will need command ships in reasonably close proximity to provide effective and reliable command functions. A CCV based on the T31 is the only realistic option as BAE Systems will be building T26 for the next 10 to 15 years apparently, they were slow to modernise their facilities and are still trying to increase capacity with subcontracts. There is an urgent need to increase mass across the board and Babcock seem to have a number of Arrowhead variation already outlined, so it shouldn’t require a huge amount of time to come up with another variation on the basic T31 design to produce the CCV. If the MoD can get their act together and keeps is simple it should be possible to keep much of the basic design the same and simply provide additional C2 capacity. May be base it on Babcock’s T32 concept which had a smaller flight deck and larger mission bay compared to the T31, as such is might just be possible to move straight onto the CCV as T31 run ends? Currently the last T31, HMS Campbeldown, is due for completion by the end of this decade, although I don’t see that happening until 2031 as they haven’t even cut steel on her yet. So a delay might actually work to our advantage by keeping the workforce busy and allowing production to straight switch into the CCV if the HMG can make timely decisions for a change.
That’s a lot of if’s.
Cheers CR