A competition to build three Fleet Solid Support (FSS) warships, which will launch in Spring 2021, aims to help revitalise British shipbuilding by requiring a significant proportion of the build and assembly work to be carried out in the UK.
International companies will be invited to work in collaboration with UK firms to feed in their skills and expertise, but the successful manufacturing team must be led by a British company.
Industry teams interested in the FSS work include a UK consortium of Babcock, BAE Systems, Cammell Laird and Rolls-Royce, which bid for the original contract.
‘Team Resolute’ – a Navantia, Infrastrata and BMT team – have agreed to partner on the work should a contract be awarded to the consortium. Infrastrata owns the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and recently announced it had acquired the historic Appledore Shipyard as well.
This will have a huge impact on the local economies across the UK where shipbuilding is a prominent feature.
Hundreds of highly skilled jobs will be created as a direct result of the announcement, with many more in SMEs throughout the supply chain for the new builds to follow over the next few years.
Defence secretary Ben Wallace confirmed the news ahead of his speech at the Atlantic Future Forum, where UK and US leaders gathered on HMS Queen Elizabeth to discuss cooperation across trade, defence and security.
The speech outlined the UK’s commitment to shipbuilding and pledge further burden-sharing with the US and NATO, thanks to the cutting-edge capability of the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carriers.
“Shipbuilding has historically been a British success story, and I am determined to revitalise this amazing industry as part of this Government’s commitment to build back better,” Mr Wallace said. “The Fleet Solid Support warships competition will be the genesis of a great UK shipbuilding industry, and allow us to develop the skills and expertise for the shipyards of tomorrow.”
The Fleet Solid Support ship competition will build on the success of the Type 31 programme, which will be built primarily in Scotland and is expected to support 1,250 highly skilled jobs and 150 apprenticeships across the country.
MoD www.gov.uk/mod