FT opinion article
Babcock’s cheaper warships offer the Royal Navy hope byJohn Gapper this morning, how Type 31 has been good for Babcock's performance and emphasising the importance of a regular drumbeat to preserve expertise and avoid future expense attempting to extend the service of obsolete/obsolescent ships. I am led to wonder who or what prompted it. (Behind paywall)
But the Gulf war has exposed how unformidable Britain’s navy has become. The US defence secretary Pete Hegseth was rude to mock the “big, bad Royal Navy” recently, but not wrong.
... the (T31) frigates may not start to enter service until late this decade. The Royal Navy had about 30 destroyers and frigates a quarter century ago but is reduced to 13 in service. Its fleet of seven frigates designed for anti-submarine warfare and general patrols is ageing fast. “The Navy is in a very difficult position, and its frigates are falling to bits,” says Steve Prest, associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank.
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These ships are “more available, more adaptable and more affordable”, says Sir Nick Hine, chief executive of Babcock’s marine division. They can also be built faster than others: Hine says his aim is to be able to assemble each one in less than four years. That is tempting not only for the UK but for allies wanting to expand their navies. It is good for Babcock, which was one of the best performers in the FTSE 100 last year. It is far smaller than BAE Systems, but this programme has allowed it to invest in Rosyth and build frigates, along with missile launch tubes for Royal and US Navy nuclear submarines. Babcock’s annual operating profit rose to £364mn last year from £242mn in 2024.
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The challenge will be to keep it going when the frigates are finished. Shipyards depend on a “drumbeat” of production, and Babcock has learnt as it has gone along how to build ships more efficiently. HMS Formidable is the third and is being assembled in larger blocks with more parts fitted earlier. If the drumbeat falls silent when the fifth ship joins the Royal Navy, much of this knowledge could be wasted. Babcock is trying not to let it happen. The Navy wanted more Type 31s, but the number was capped by the Treasury. It now hopes for a fresh order for an updated frigate called the Type 32.
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“Once you get good at making ships, keep going. It is very difficult to start again when you have stopped,” Prest remarks. There is an obvious industrial logic to continuity. Not only does it provide steady investment for one of the UK’s big defence groups but it helps to build Scotland’s economy and revive a valuable industry.
A shipbuilding drumbeat also makes military sense. The UK defence budget faces a £28bn shortfall over the next four years and the government has delayed its defence investment plan. But old warships require more repairs than modern ones and the Royal Navy needs to be renewed. Rosyth shows what the future could be.