In November 2018 GE announced it plans to close its Power Conversion plant in Rugby and move operations to France by the end of 2019. What may appear to be just another industrial rationalisation by a multi-national corporation has potentially very serious implications for the Royal Navy and is a situation that demands government intervention.
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Here we report on the current progress of HMS Queen Elizabeth as she arrived in Rosyth for maintenance.
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RFA Tidespring arrived on the Mersey on 8th February to begin her first docking. She is the first vessel in the RFA fleet to undergo maintenance as part of the Future In-Service Support (FISS) contracts awarded in October 2018.More
In June 2018, we reported on how the Type 23 frigates are receiving engine upgrades and life extension refits. Here we review the state of the frigate fleet and progress on their refits.
The two Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers will require dry-docking periodically throughout their lives. The dry docks at Portsmouth and Devonport naval bases are not large enough to accommodate them so the RN must choose between a very limited selection of other UK facilities. Here we examine some of the options.
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Serco Maritime Services operate the tugs that are commonly seen assisting RN vessels to leave and return to harbour. Serco also provides a diverse range of other marine services, that support warships and submarines. In this article we examine another of the key enablers that the RN could not sail without.
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Unable to follow up their success building OPVs for export, and with no other orders forthcoming, last week Babcock made the sad announcement that the Appledore shipyard will close in March 2019. Here we examine the background and potential impacts of this decision.
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Today the MoD has announced the award of the Future In-Service Support (FISS) contracts worth a total of £1Bn to provide maintenance support for 17 vessels of the naval service. For the RN this is broadly good news, efficiently sustaining a large part of the fleet, strengthening shipyards while offering greater competition and diversity amongst its suppliers. More
Without munitions, the Navy would be toothless and of limited value. To fully arm the fleet requires a lengthy logistic chain of specialists and bespoke facilities. In this, the second of a 2-part article looking at naval support infrastructure, we examine the system that provides conventional munitions to the RN.
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