Boost for naval shipbuilding in Scotland

 

 
 Above image shows H.M.S. Glasgow, a Type 26 frigate under construction
 
Although Scotland's dominance of commercial shipbuilding is long past construction of military ships is flourishing as illustrated by the following:

  • The U.K.s Ministry of Defence has announced a GBP4.2bn contract with BAE systems to build the next five City class Type 26 frigates at its yards at Govan and Scotstoun on the River Clyde in Glasgow.
  • Construction of the first three Royal Navy vessels of the Type 26 class are already under construction. The Australian and Canadian navies are also favouring the Type 26 for their renewal programmes. All up, global procurement now sits at 32 ships.
  • On September 5th BAE's Managing Director stated that 170 apprentices had just been recruited and that a total of 400 apprentices had been recruited in the past five years. Latter figure will rise to 900 in course of next five years.
  • GBP15m is being invested in a new Applied Shipbuilding Academy in Glasgow. Also BAE is  building a new, covered fabrication facility at Govan costing more than GBP100m.
  • Another military supplier, Babcock, is building  Type 31 and Type 32 vessels at Rosyth on the east coast.
  • Last week the Ministry of Defence awarded a GBP1.6bn contract for three navy support vessels to a consortium which will provide work through to 2032 for shipyards at Methil on the east coast and Arnish on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.
Clearly, the military shipbuilding industry here is in fine fettle!

Acknowledgement: Information above was obtained from an article in the Times newspaper of November 23rd 2022.

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