British Shipbuilder Babcock to Make Assemblies for U.S. Navy Attack Subs
Amidst reports of troubles and delays inside Britain's nuclear-submarine program, UK shipbuilder Babcock has announced plans to construct more submarine components for American defense prime contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries. Babcock already constructs missile tube assemblies for American subs, and will now begin building additional complex assemblies for incorporation into HII's Virginia-class attack submarines. As described, the deal could help de-bottleneck nuclear submarine production in the United States, a key priority for the Trump administration.
"Leveraging Babcock’s reach and expertise in the U.K. will reinforce our supplier base, strengthen submarine production in the U.S., and support the trilateral AUKUS partnership," said HII president Chris Kastner in a statement.
British Secretary of State for Defence John Healey endorsed the deal as well, calling it a "vote of confidence in the workers and skills of Scotland’s defense industry" and a sign that the UK is a "global leader for advanced marine and submarine engineering."
The announcement follows on the heels of a critical review from Rear Admiral Philip Mathias (ret'd), former director of nuclear policy at the UK Ministry of Defence, who told The Telegraph that the UK's overall submarine program had suffered from "a catastrophic failure of succession and leadership planning."
"The UK is no longer capable of managing a nuclear submarine program," Rear Adm. Mathias said in an interview published last weekend. "Performance across all aspects of the program continues to get worse in every dimension. This is an unprecedented situation in the nuclear submarine age."
Delivery delays affect the ballistic-missile Dreadnought-class and the Astute-class attack subs, and the existing Astute-class boats face delays for maintenance as well, he said.
Babcock has been helping address the problem. It is building the missile tube assemblies for Dreadnought, and its Rosyth yard is getting a $460 million upgrade to enable future drydocking and maintenance of the UK's nuclear ballistic missile submarines. Its infrastructure division recently completed a much-needed overhaul of a drydock at the Royal Navy's Devonport sub base, where the Dreadnought-class and the Astute-class boats are repaired. Drydock availability is a critical factor limiting Astute-class readiness, as the at-sea strategic deterrent provided by the Dreadnoughts takes priority in the queue for repairs.
Top image: Guinnog / CC BY SA 3.0
