Arrowhead 140 builds on Queen Elizabeth Aircraft carrier legacy at Rosyth
Sean Donaldson Babcock International Group
2019 has been an important year for UK shipbuilding and for Babcock International. With HMS Prince of Wales, the second of the UK Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, leaving Babcock’s Rosyth site in September 2019 for extensive sea trials, following her sister ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s, similar embarkation just over two years earlier, it signalled the completion of a decade of highly – successful
carrier build and assembly activity at Rosyth for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
HMS Queen Elizabeth’s return to Rosyth for a planned 6‐week dry – docking and maintenance period back in March – April 2019, underlined Babcock’s long‐standing, in‐service support capability – and was delivered alongside its programme of work supporting the Royal Navy’s Sandown Class minehunters and commercial marine contracts at the facility.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Defence announced in September that Babcock Team 31 and its Arrowhead 140 solution was the preferred bidder for the UK Royal Navy’s Type 31 general‐purpose frigate programme. Contract award in November 2019 signalled the start of this five‐frigate programme, kick starting another decade of ship‐build activity for the historic dockyard.
This fast‐paced programme, with the first platform in the water in 2023, focuses on maximising UK prosperity and export potential.
“Rosyth has seen significant investment in the last decade and we will now embark on a new era of digitising our facilities and systems to bring advancements and efficiencies into the manufacturing, build and assembly process. This will include the installation of additional Advanced Manufacturing capability and the build of a brand new module hall.”
Sean Donaldson continued: “We have developed a dynamic and flexible build strategy that will enable the concurrent assembly of different modules and on time delivery.
HMS Queen Elizabeth
“Systems are also proven – with a global user base. Royal Navy design features have already been built in to the Thales TACTICOS Combat Management System product roadmap. Communications fit and Electronic Warfare solutions are fully productionised, enabling very low non‐recurring engineering costs, with delivery
22 Society of Maritime Industries Handbook & Members’ Directory 2020
Platform adaptability, modularity, openness and agility are high on the MOD’s requirements for the T31 Frigates, underpinned by a procurement approach that maximises UK content and value for money for the British Taxpayer.
Sean Donaldson, Managing Director of Babcock’s Energy and Marine Business explains why Babcock Team 31 and Arrowhead 140 ticks all of these boxes.
“Through its proven platform and systems – Arrowhead 140 removes risk, while our Rosyth facility is delivering productivity enhancements and innovation to UK ship building. The ship is based on an at sea hull design, which will leverage the skills of an existing and experienced workforce at Rosyth and around the UK. Its smart build credentials mean it is designed for pre‐outfitting, enabling rapid assembly and supporting time and cost efficiencies.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
