It has been reported that Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 design will be picked for the Type 31e Frigate competition.

Alan Tovey reported here that the government is to announce the winner in a major announcement at next month’s Defence & Security Equipment International show in London.

This news, if accurate, means that Scottish shipyards will be working on 18 vessels in total. Including the five Offshore Patrol Vessels launched on the Clyde since 2014 and the 8 Type 26 Frigates to be built at Govan.

Rosyth is hoping to assemble Type 31e Frigates if Babcock and their industry consortium win the work.

The MoD is set to award a contract for the Type 31e frigate, with Babcock, BAE Systems and Atlas Elektronik among the main contenders.

Babcock say that their Arrowhead design lends itself equally to either a single build strategy, or a cross–site build strategy bringing together modules – an approach used for aircraft carrier assembly at Rosyth.

The company had previously warned that jobs could be lost if Rosyth doesn’t get the work.

“The company are extremely optimistic they can work with the recognised trade unions (Unite, Prospect & GMB) when they secure the T31e project to minimise the risk of potential future compulsory redundancies. To achieve this, in the meantime, the company shall look to release volunteers for redundancy under the current phase announced in February 2019.

However, whilst securing the T31e project will give the yard a future longer term there is still the matter of current surplus labour. It is for this reason the company and the recognised trade unions shall look to enter into a temporary mobility agreement to secure the skillsets required for the future.In the unfortunate event the company is unsuccessful in securing the T31e project it is likely we would be faced with the potential of 450 trade union members being made compulsory redundant, impacting all skill sets and all trade union collectives.”

More on this as it develops.