Simon Lister News

Construction on the U.K. Royal Navy's future HMS Birmingham has officially commenced at BAE Systems’ Govan shipyard in Glasgow.Work on the first three Type 26 ships is well under way with HMS Glasgow now at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun shipyard to have her complex systems installed, HMS Cardiff currently being assembled and HMS Belfast in its early construction phase. HMS Birmingham is the first ship to be constructed under a £4.2 billion contract for the remaining five ships secured in November…

A steel cutting ceremony was held for the U.K. Royal Navy's third Type 26 frigate, HMS Belfast, with all three of the first batch of City Class frigates now under construction.Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, set the plasma cutting machine to work on the first plate of steel at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Glasgow. The U.K.-sourced steel plate will form part of a unit which will contain the machinery space for the gearbox and stabilizers of HMS Belfast.Minister of State for Defense Baroness Goldie…

Britain's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales sails into home port of Portsmouth Naval Base for the first time.The £3.1 billion warship left Rosyth dockyard, Scotland, where it was built in September before undergoing eight weeks of sea trials.The ship’s arrival into Portsmouth represents the culmination of 16 years of work by the ACA – a unique alliance relationship between BAE Systems, Babcock, Thales, and the UK Ministry of Defence.More than 10,000 people across the UK have been involved in the program to deliver the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, with six British shipbuilding yards across the country playing a vital role in the ships’ design and construction.Sir Simon Lister…

Artful, the third of the U.K. Royal Navy’s new Astute Class attack submarines, has arrived at her Scottish base port from where she will carry out sea trials before entering service later this year, the U.K. Ministry of Defense announced. The 7,400-metric-ton, 97-meter-long Artful left BAE Systems’ construction yard at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria several days ago before sailing to her new home at Her Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde. HMNB Clyde will become a home for the Royal Navy’s submarines and associated support by 2020, creating a submarine centre of specialization.

Vice Admiral Simon Lister, Chief of Materiel (Fleet), Defense Equipment and Support, opened a new gas turbine testing center last week at the Rolls-Royce facility at Filton, Bristol, U.K. The Rolls-Royce Test Facility now includes a new WR-21 Test Cell, to support the maintenance requirements of the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers. This new facility will service and test both WR-21 and MT30 marine gas turbines and has the capability to test up to 40MW. Following the unveiling of a commemorative plaque to mark the center's official opening…

The newly launched program for the 12th International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition – INEC 2014, being held at the Marine Establishment Amsterdam in the Netherlands (May 20-22, 2014) features an incomparable line-up drawn from over a dozen countries speaking to the theme ‘Innovative solutions to global trends’. The program includes keynote addresses by Vice Admirals of both the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Navy, and, thanks to the support of the Royal Netherlands Navy, a networking and industrial visit program with the innovative HNLMS Tromp at its heart.

HRH Duke of Kent K.G. performed the official opening of Atlantic House, a new state-of-the-art office facility located on the Raynesway Site. Lawrie Haynes, Rolls-Royce President – Nuclear said: "We are delighted to welcome HRH Duke of Kent to Raynesway to officially open Atlantic House and to see some of the important work that we do in support of the Royal Navy's Submarine Programme. "Atlantic House provides a superb and modern working environment for our people and their extraordinary engineering skills and expertise. Atlantic House is the second phase of the Raynesway Regeneration Project which, in its entirety, will ensure the capability and infrastructure necessary to deliver the UK's Submarine Programme for the next 50 years, securing up to 2000 jobs at Raynesway.

A £46m contract to support and maintain a new combat system across the Royal Navy's submarine fleet awarded to BAE Systems. The Design Services Arrangement contract will ensure that the system, which is used to navigate vessels as well as gather intelligence and defend against attacks, is maintained and developed over the next decade. The Royal Navy operates three classes of submarine, totalling 10 vessels, which are used to safeguard the UK's interests around the world. Currently, different combat systems are used across the fleet.