Royal Navy frigates to be built in Rosyth as Babcock lands £1.25bn deal

The five ships will be assembled at its Rosyth Dockyard and will involve supply chains throughout the UK.

More than 2,500 jobs across the UK are expected to be supported as a result of the Type 31 programme, including 150 jobs for new technical apprenticeships.

The firm said work on the fleet will begin immediately once the formal contract is awarded later this financial year, with detailed design work first and manufacture starting in 2021.

Archie Bethel, Babcock chief executive, said: “Driven by innovation and backed by experience and heritage, Arrowhead 140 is a modern warship that will meet the maritime threats of today and tomorrow, with British ingenuity and engineering at its core.

“It provides a flexible, adaptable platform that delivers value for money and supports the UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

“Arrowhead 140 will offer the Royal Navy a new class of ship with a proven ability to deliver a range of peacekeeping, humanitarian and war-fighting capabilities whilst offering communities and supply chains throughout the UK a wide range of economic and employment opportunities.”

The Government has committed to buying at least five of the low-cost warships for the Royal Navy, with the first vessel expected to be in the water by 2023.

The average production cost is £250 million per ship.

The Ministry of Defence aims to award the contract by the end of the year.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “Scotland has a world-renowned reputation for quality shipbuilding and I very much welcome the announcement that Babcock is the preferred bidder to design the MoD’s new Type 31 frigates.

“The Type 26 programme has already secured 4,000 Scottish jobs and 20 years of work on the Clyde and I’m looking forward to Babcock – including its key Rosyth yard – keeping Scotland at the forefront of a renaissance in UK shipbuilding.

“This is a clear show of support for the UK defence sector, the role it plays in keeping the United Kingdom secure, and its contribution to Scotland’s prosperity through high-skilled employment and investment.”

Douglas Chapman, Dunfermline and West Fife MP, said: “The Type 31 contracts should safeguard 450 jobs at Rosyth and give tranches of work to Ferguson Marine on the Clyde and to Harland and Woolf in Belfast.

“We have worked very hard in Parliament and lobbied incessantly to win these contracts and I am delighted that this work has paid off. Rosyth has been at the heart of the Carrier Alliance which built two of the Royal Navy’s largest ships.

“While we have been waiting a long time for this decision and lost shipbuilding jobs along the way, we have made the case that the Rosyth workforce should get some reward for delivering the aircraft carriers.

“Work will start at Rosyth immediately and I have the utmost faith in the workforce there to deliver the 5 ships.

“The talent at the yard is testament to the fantastic apprenticeships being run by the Scottish Government that we now have talent right on our doorstep in engineering and shipbuilding for ships that will be used around the world.

“While we welcome this news, the Type 31’s are a fraction of the size and cost of the frigates that were promised to the Clyde before the 2014 independence referendum. We cannot accept that these ships are part of the promise made by the UK at that time.

“No frigate factory was built on the Clyde and only a small number of Type 26 contracts have been signed. That promise is still outstanding and needs to be delivered in full for naval shipbuilding on the Clyde.”

Lesley Laird, Shadow Scottish Secretary and MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said: "This is fantastic news and I’m delighted for the workforce and the unions who have campaigned so vigilantly to secure this contract.

"It should have been a common-sense decision to allocate the contract to Rosyth but, as we know, common sense is not so common from this Government. In this case, thankfully, the right decision has finally been made.

"With the HMS Prince of Wales due to leave shortly, the timing could simply not be better in securing an ongoing flow of work and the opportunity to create employment in the local area.

"As I’ve always said, the workforce skills at Rosyth are world-class and this contract recognises that.

"I spoke to Babcock’s managing director, Sean Donaldson, first thing this morning to offer him my congratulations and I hope to visit the yard again in the near future."

Claire Baker MSP said: “This is a very welcome announcement and great news for the workforce in Rosyth, whose skills are rightfully recognised with this contract award.

“Securing contracts like this ensures a continuing flow of work as well as the potential to create additional local employment opportunities, giving a real boost to the area.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit a ship on the Thames on Thursday.

Speaking ahead of the visit, he said: “The UK is an outward-looking island nation and we need a shipbuilding industry and Royal Navy that reflect the importance of the seas to our security and prosperity.

“This is an industry with a deep and visceral connection to so many parts of the UK and to the union itself.

“My Government will do all it can to develop this aspect of our heritage and the men and women who make up its workforce – from apprentices embarking on a long career to those families who have worked in shipyards for generations.”

He added: “I look forward to the restoration of British influence and excellence across the world’s oceans.

“I am convinced that by working together we will see a renaissance in this industry which is so much part of our island story – so let’s bring shipbuilding home.”

The PM has appointed Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as the Government’s new shipbuilding tsar to enhance the UK’s production.

He will look at how the Government can use further education, skilled apprenticeships and graduates to achieve a sustainable skills base for British shipbuilding across the UK.

Mr Wallace said: “These mighty ships will form the next generation of the Royal Navy fleet.

“The Type 31 frigates will be a fast, agile and versatile warship, projecting power and influence across the globe.

“The ships will be vital to the Royal Navy’s mission to keeping peace, providing life-saving humanitarian aid and safeguarding the economy across the world from the North Atlantic, to the Gulf, and in the Asia Pacific.”

Bob MacGregor, Unite regional industrial officer, said: “Unite is delighted that Rosyth will perform a leading role in the construction of the new Type31e frigates for the Royal Navy. This will secure hundreds of jobs for well over a decade.

"The contract award is recognition of the highly-skilled workforce based at Rosyth and their dedication to making the yard a success.

"There will be substantial benefits to the wider Fife economy through the supply-chain and also for the next generation of young people looking at the opportunities for apprenticeships.  We look forward to playing our role in making this project a success for Rosyth and the Scottish economy.” 

Mike Clancy, Prospect general secretary, said: "It is welcome that this announcement has finally been made following damaging delays from government that caused huge uncertainty for the industry. This was a critical decision to securing the future of the Rosyth yard where we are a leading union.

“Events in the Gulf this summer have shown that 19 frigates should be an absolute minimum for the Navy. So this first order of five warships must be followed up by further orders. This will maintain the drumbeat of production and make sure further capability gaps do not occur. 

"This government has a lamentable record on shipbuilding, with yards closing and skills lost. These workers need more than warm words and a new tsar, they need concrete action. 

"These frigates were always going to be built in the UK, but workers need a cast iron guarantee from the prime minister that new naval support ships will also be built in our yards and UK workers will not be left high and dry while vital work and taxpayers’ money is sent abroad."

The vessels will be fitted with the world-leading Sea Ceptor missile system, a range of highly advanced weapon and sensor systems and a combat system with a 4D air and surface surveillance and target indication radar.

They will also have capabilities to operate with a Merlin or Wildcat helicopter.