Babcock International has signed a contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to manufacture complex submarine assemblies for the US Navy's Virginia-class submarine programme. The work will be carried out at Babcock's Rosyth facility in Scotland.
This agreement marks the first time HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division has outsourced specific Virginia-class work to Babcock.
The contract authorises the UK engineering firm to build assemblies for Block VI fast-attack submarines, a move intended to increase production throughput and build resiliency within HII's supply base.
Chris Kastner, President and CEO of HII, stated, “Leveraging Babcock’s reach and expertise in the UK will reinforce our supplier base, strengthen submarine production in the US, and support the trilateral AUKUS partnership.”
David Lockwood, CEO of Babcock, noted that the contract allows the company to build on its established missile tube assembly capability. UK Defence Secretary John Healey described the deal as a "vote of confidence" in the workers and skills of Scotland’s defence industry.