Devonport Royal Dockyard: A Glimpse behind the Dockyard’s Walls

On consecutive days in February 2024, Babcock International Group hosted members of the investor and media communities at a series of presentations at Devonport Royal Dockyard in Plymouth, South West England. Conrad Waters, MDM’s Joint Editor in Chief, was present at the media event. Here, the group’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Lockwood and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer John Howie explained the British defence and security enterprise’s current performance and future plans against the backdrop of the dockyard’s impressive facilities. The events provided a rare opportunity to view the massive programme of transformation that is currently underway at one of Europe’s most important naval complexes.

A strategic facility

Tracing its origins to the seventeenth century, Babcock International’s Devonport Royal Dockyard facility was privatised in 1997 prior to being acquired by Babcock ten years later. Co-located with HM (His Majesty’s) Naval Base Devonport – which remains in government hands – the combined site is claimed to be the largest naval support facility in Western Europe. Spread across an area exceeding 650 acres (2.7 km²) bordering the River Tamar, it encompasses four miles (6.4 km) of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, five basins and 15 dry docks.

Devonport Royal Dockyard’s main function is to act as the primary centre for the maintenance of the British Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered strategic and attack submarines throughout their service lives, as well as supporting their eventual defuelling and disposal. This infrastructure suffered from lack of investment in the post-Cold War era but is now being transformed as part of a major programme of capital expenditure. Inevitably, the recapitalisation of these support facilities, which comprise a complex of docks and other maintenance assets clustered around the yard’s Number Five Basin, were a focal point of the visit.

The most significant modernisation project that is now being undertaken at Devonport is the Submarine Waterfront Infrastructure Future (SWIF) programme. This is aimed largely at supporting maintenance of the new generation of Astute class attack submarines. Babcock signed a GBP 750 million (USD 937 million) contract with the UK Ministry of Defence’s Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) to implement SWIF in November 2023 and its completion is due before the end of 2027. The project includes the reconstruction of the existing Number 10 Dock to house submarine refits, the provision of a new non-tidal maintenance berthing within Number Five Basin, as well as construction of associated buildings and services. Although primarily focused on the Astute class, the project will also potentially benefit the existing Vanguard class submarines, as well as the future Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS classes.

The media visit provided the opportunity to view the extensive work that is being carried out to implement SWIF, which has included the demolition and clearance of existing buildings and other site preparatory work. The modernised dock has to be sufficiently robust to withstand a severe seismic event, necessitating the strengthening of adjacent infrastructure. Once completed, SWIF will make an important contribution to reducing the backlog of submarine refits that have had a detrimental impact on the readiness of the Royal Navy’s undersea flotilla.

Frigate support challenges

Another highlight of the media visit was the tour of the dockyard’s Frigate Support Centre (FSC), which was first opened in the mid-1970s to facilitate the refits of Leander class frigates. The vast, cathedral-like structure provides three covered docks to allow work to progress in all weather conditions. It has recently been almost entirely devoted to implementing life extension (LIFEX) work on the majority of Type 23 ‘Duke’ class frigates that remain in Royal Navy service. This has proved to be a costly and complex project, with the challenges of refurbishing ships that have served far beyond their originally planned 18 year service lives being much more significant than was initially envisaged.

The end result has been frequent changes in the overall scope of the Type 23 LIFEX programme, the individual ships scheduled to go through it, and the length of individual refits. Of the life extensions completed to date, that for HMS Iron Duke proved particularly difficult to accomplish. Taking nearly 50 months by the time it was concluded in mid-2023 and costing in excess of GBP 100 million (USD 136 million), the package of work required the insertion of more than 2,000 steel patches to return the ship to a seaworthy condition. However, the LIFEX project is now progressing to a largely successful conclusion, with Babcock keen to point out that they are meeting all current programme requirements. The FSC is likely to be kept occupied in the medium term maintaining the Type 23s until the class is finally withdrawn in the 2030s.

A major question mark, however, hangs over the FSC’s longer term future. The size of surface combatants has grown since the support centre was first opened and the next generation of Type 26 and Type 31 frigates will not be able to fit within the docks’ confines. One possibility might be to utilise the structure to dismantle decommissioned nuclear submarines once a trial project at Babcock’s facility at Rosyth in Scotland involving the former HMS Swiftsure has been completed. In any event, it seems likely that further investment in infrastructure will be required to maintain the new frigate classes.

More than supporting the fleet

Whilst Devonport Royal Dockyard is inevitably focused on naval projects, Babcock was also keen to use the media event to showcase the facility’s broader capabilities. These are being leveraged through the inclusion of the so-called South Yard part of the dockyard within the new Plymouth and South Devon Freeport. This offers government incentives in the form of relaxation of customs duties and some other taxes to encourage investment.

An early indication of the attractions of the regime has been provided by Babcock’s investment in an innovative manufacturing facility within South Yard to produce ‘Jackal 3’ High Mobility Transporters (HMTs) for the British Army. The contract is being fulfilled in partnership with specialist military vehicle manufacturer Supacat. It involves the initial production of 70 vehicles; 62 at Devonport and the remaining eight at Supacat’s own factory. Around 90 jobs have been created at Devonport as a result of the contract’s award.

The contract is comparatively small and short term in duration, being due for completion around the middle of 2024. However, it potentially has longer term significance in so far as the new Devonport factory is future-proofed so as to be ready for subsequent build programmes. Babcock state that transformational innovation technology has been used throughout the production line, including the use of its bespoke ‘Pulse’ software to maximise efficiency during vehicle assembly.  The company anticipates that the advantages of being located in the South Devon Freeport will be of considerable benefit in bids for further orders, both domestic and in the global export markets, in the years to come.

Reindustrialising the United Kingdom

The investment that is now being made in upgrading and expanding infrastructure at Devonport Royal Dockyard underpins its place as one of the region’s most important employers. Around 11,600 workers are employed across the dockyard and adjacent naval base. About 7,300 of these jobs are attributable to Babcock alone. These numbers are only expected to grow in future years.

Indeed, a key theme running throughout the media presentations was the huge challenge the facility’s expansion presents in terms of attracting the growing workforce needed to support the associated increase in activity. Babcock CEO David Lockwood described this challenge in terms of achieving what is essentially “the reindustrialisation of the United Kingdom”. It has become clear to the company that its demand for labour will not be achieved merely by pursuing traditional recruitment methods targeted, for example, at school leavers and graduates. As such, this is another area where innovation is being pursued.

One major element in Babcock’s strategy is the creation of a Babcock Skills Academy that combines digital technology with hands-on-training to develop the personnel skills that the group needs. The academy was launched at Devonport in 2023 and has an initial focus on developing submarine support and critical nuclear skills. The programme will be extended to other areas of Babcock’s business in due course. Whilst open to existing employees and new recruits, a major part of the plan is to retrain workers from other disciplines to provide the required expertise. More than 2,000 people are expected to pass through the Babcock Skills Academy in its first three years, and a further 10,000 over the following five years in an indication of the extent of the scheme’s ambition.

All-in-all, the media visit provided a valuable insight into the level of investment now being made in revitalising British naval infrastructure after a period of relative neglect. The fact that this investment is being replicated in other facilities, particularly in the nuclear sphere, across the United Kingdom makes the scope of this reinvigoration all the more impressive. Babcock’s endeavours illustrate both the scale of the challenge faced when critical assets are allowed to decline and the determination with which government and industry are rising to this challenge.

Conrad Waters