Defence future

Published on 22/08/2012 00:00

The announcement of the new frigates for the Royal Navy presents the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with a quandary if Scotland chooses independence.

The design work and the skills required to build them all reside in Scotland. To establish them 
in a yard south of the Border would be expensive and add to an 
already shrinking budget.

Despite the proposals, the 
actual number to be built is not likely to get into double figures, purely on cost grounds, and building them in a new yards would increase costs.

Most recent MoD contracts have seen numbers procured 
revised downwards and this contract is going to follow suit. Rising unit costs and shrinking budgets are reducing MoD procurement.

The yards on the Clyde and the Forth need to look elsewhere for orders, whatever the outcome of the referendum vote.

Other countries have indicated interest in the designs produced on the Clyde. The new frigate 
design could be built for other navies. The Royal Navy might have to join the queue if it doesn’t place its orders quickly. Since the MoD has already looked at selling one of the carriers and restricting the use of the other, Rosyth also needs to look for other areas of work. No yards can depend on the Royal Navy for work, irrespective of the outcome of the referendum.

With marine energy technology being a growing field it is perhaps time for our yards to look at diversifying away from dependence on Westminster for orders.

Bruce D Skivington

Strath

Gairloch, Wester Ross