The Ministry of Defence has confirmed it has not yet selected locations for the six “always on” munitions and energetics factories promised in the Strategic Defence Review, telling peers that decisions on where they will be built remain under consideration.
Lord Beamish asked ministers what discussions had taken place with local and combined authorities and industry in the North East about hosting one of the proposed sites.
In response, Defence Minister Lord Coaker repeated that the department is still working through its options. He said it was “vital we invest our defence spending across UK whenever possible to grow our economy and industrial base” and noted that the MoD spent £178 million in the region in 2024 to 2025.
He added that the government had committed “£1.5 billion in the Strategic Defence Review to move munitions production to ‘always on’ and build six new munitions and energetics factories”, but that arrangements, including potential locations, were “carefully considering” and further detail would follow.
Beamish also asked whether ministers had assessed the possible value of placing one of the plants in the North East as part of efforts to address regional economic imbalances. Coaker offered the same answer, again stressing that investment would be spread across the UK and repeating the government’s commitment to the six-factory programme.
A third question sought clarity on when the government expects to announce the chosen sites and whether it will publish the criteria used for selection. Coaker replied that the MoD is still evaluating options and that “more detail will be set out in due course”, but provided no timing or indication of whether selection criteria will be made public.
Just Imagine the Thousands of Meetings, discussion groups and Proposals this will take.
N.I.M.B.Y.
But imagine the bonus for the food and drinks industry.
Makes me think about buying stocks in McVities – all the biscuits they’ll be having at those hundreds of meetings!
I love McVitie’s biscuits and I would refuse to go to meeting, which did not offer them with coffee!
I had a poster say to me with confidence many month’s ago that the sites were already decided, and not so much “new” factories ( standard HMG spin ) but expansions of existing munitions factories on brownfield land.
Maybe he was mistaken, maybe not.
There is a potential that both statements are correct. They might have indentified the sites but not yet ready to official confirm them, as that would need construction to start which would mean cash being released.
there was a leak ( or rather the MOD forgot to black out the sections) that showed they have been looking at sites including Grangemouth oil terminal and Milford Haven oil terminal and a site by Loch Long. i will try to find the article again
Interesting Simon, thank you. I’d missed that report completely.
It was in the Guardian and on the website of the Ferret
There’s a large factory/warehouse unit in Chippenham just off Junction 17 of the M4. Completely empty and has been for over a year. Use that for one.
Not that I’m looking for a new job there or anything ;-p
Just about every thing to do with the MOD is under review, or just not going any where why? is it a money problem?, a lack of will power problem or just smoke and mirrors and really nothing is getting done and lets just down and kick most of it in to the long grass. Story after story of later, in a few years , not now under review its shame ful.
Now the senior Politburo member stated “we are on a war footing” a few months ago. So please trust Comrade TT the Dear Leader. We will, by 2035 have one “factory” turning out 250 live rounds of 5.56 per month.
Guardian says government looking at 12 potential sites and wants to build 6 munitions factories for 1000 workers. Factory to be always ‘on’ .
How many years to decide a choice that could be made in a month.
What’s the matter with all the old factory sites forgot they were sold off as not required.
As always, industry takes precedence over military capability with the defence budget.
” Vital we invest our defence spending widely whenever possible to grow our economy and industrial base”
Meanwhile, Reeves trashes it at the other end, and the forces, despite “seeing the greatest expansion in defence spending since the Cold War” are receiving WHAT exactly that wasn’t already planned?
SIA into the 2.5.
Ukraine in the 2.5.
Chagos 35 billion in the 2.5. Yes, Jim, it’s not a mere 3 billion, and even if it was, why are we paying.
Afghan rehoming, another 2.5 billion.
Astrea, 15 billion.
Tempest, 12 billion.
SSN dismantling, no idea actually assume that’s also another voice eating at the defence table.
Guess who is rock bottom of the list?
Meanwhile, Poland just had another batch of K9 Thunder delivered while we muse on RCH155, maybe this decade, maybe not.
Charlatans, the lot of you.
On your point about SSN Dismantling, £12,000,000,000 Is way way under true costs.
Hincley B has just commenced a 96 year clean up Program. All this Green Energy and Nuclear is the future talk is complete BS.
Anyone want to buy a solar set up ?
Oh and Chagos at £36,000,000,000 is beyond rediculous and in no way defendable Jim (Boycie) (I’m getting a whole list of Only Fools and Horses Charactors now !!!)
HW No 12 Billion is about right and you are not comparing like with like as a Nuclear Power station site is damn all to do with Defence spending (well not directly). Those are costs involved to build the necessary infrastructure, recruit and train the required staff and licence the site to do this properly and safely. What’s more is we then have an enduring capability to do so in future as each boat decommissions, it’s actually not only sensible but 30 years overdue.
I don’t know if you have visited either but I have and it’s a completely different scenario, the nuclear submarine is a steam powered boat with a small PWR nuclear reactor in a containment vessel within the reactor compartment. At present we keep boats afloat and maintained so that they safely contain that compartment as that’s where all the radioactive stuff is. Other than that the boat itself is just very high grade scrap.
Which is why at Rosyth and Devonport they are building / adapting facilities. So the boats can be drydocked and safely taken apart until to the reactor compartment and then it gets more complicated and needs isolating ! End if the day you end up with an old de fuelled reactor vessel encased in concrete / steel and ready to be disposed of in a long term underground site.
Secondly the new types of reactor will never require the same degree of costs to decommission them, the simple reason for that is they use completely different technology to our previous ones and very low levels of enriched fuel such as HALEU, MOX or uranium dioxide pellets.
In the case of the U.K we were kind of our own worst enemy as back in the early 50’s we decided to build A and H bombs of our own and the easiest and cheapest way to do it was to conceal the costs of producing the fissile materials by designing our “civilian’ reactors to produce what we needed. The electricity was just a by product of producing Plutonium and eventually the US stopped making their own and imported ours instead ! In fact we were so good at it we actually have by far the highest stockpile of HEU plutonium in the world (100 tonnes +), Mr Milibrain wants to bury it !
Sorry, you got my intent wrong there, I was not lumping the two together in a like for like way. Merely highlighting the vast costs of both over the long term.
I’m retired from all this so I won’t be entering into any further discussion.
On this subject, Rodney is the SME man on site mate! Probably best.😉
Erm, OK.
What is my name BTW? You said you were naming “regulars” after Fools and Horses characters.
“Raquel”.
😁
🤣
Needs more discussions and conferences and anything so we can delay paying for the Armed Forces and then paying the lazy sods not working instead.
Hi m8 yes it will be £35billion but that’s based on £101 million for 99 years adjusted for inflation, to put that in context the “Black Cat” roundabout in Cambridgeshire is costing 5 years of its less than 1/3 of HS2 in today’s prices !
And yes you are right the forces at present aren’t receiving anything other than that which was previously planned for (except maybe NSM, 14 Archers and some new assault rifles).
Let’s see what’s in the new plan !
I don’t like it, you don’t like it and I’m bloody sure the Armed forces don’t like it, but it’s what we have !
Look on the bright side if the new DIP doesn’t announce anything much extra Mr Starmer won’t like the call he gets from Mr Trump or the consequences.
I used to have a Little Chef at the Black Cat roundabout! Know it well we used to go up the A1 to Sleaford monthly.
Another thought. How many defence programs have a £100 million a year budget? Not many.
I find it scandalous, we should hand the place to the US and save the money.
The truth is that despite everything, the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury are still covertly operating a Ten Year Rule.
Build it on existing UK MoD land and ignore planning controls as its critical for the nation.
I heard Bridgend has a pretty big old munitiins site.
must be some very suitable sites available in rust belt areas , got to tick off, security, transport, safety, workforce etc. good problem to have though sad we are being forced to rearm.
Munition factories are not a cheap build. Re-activating an old one is of course doable. A whole new one is another matter. They require space, not only from the neighbours, but within themselves. You can’t afford for one section to take out others if the worse should happen. The cost of replacing a sold off acceptable & previously operating site for a new build site will make your eyes water & seriously lighten your wallet. The MOD’s accounting practices are having serious consequences.
Anything to drag it out, eh ?
Probably answered this before but is there scope for expansion of existing ammunition manufacturers sites in tandem? 155mm being manufactured for Ukrainian use, BAE building a new M777 facility in UK and RCH 155 will require supplies when it eventually arrives.
We’re back again then !!!
Bloody “Cloudflair” secure Internet eh ? what a joke
Yep.
If, but, maybe, we might do or Labour would rather spend the money on illegal immigr… oops soz typing out loud again.
Translation: We’re identifying the most marginal Parliamentary seats and trying to find suitable factory sites within those constituencies
I just wonder how many of these wonderful ideas for future defence spending being trotted out by the government will survive an announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine?
I used to be indecisive but now I am not so sure. So as a compromise I think I will do nothing for a while and then see who can persuade me to act decisively. Pathetic really but it’s been a big week they have just discovered the Chinese are spying on Parliament. Not sure why they bother, no decisions taken there ever not ever.
I thgink you need to make your mind up, or maybe not, bugger, now you got me at it.
China was probably watching the MP getting Proposed to by his “Lover” 🧑🤝🧑
#bless this house
But of they haven’t, it’s all Beullshit talk.
“Buellshit”
Ahh another possible Biker ?
Beull is an american Bike manufacturer “Eric Buell” who used Harley engines “Shite”. Buellshite.
Typical of the mod , they couldn’t decide on the colour of an orange , meanwhile our nations security is put in peril by the dithering and mismanagement of this not for for purpose government department .
Oranges can be green and ripe 🙂
Exactly , and therein lies the problem , they wouldnt agree on it .