Rosyth shipyard expected to win £1bn Danish navy contract

By Gbam Godwin Last updated Sep 5, 2025

Rosyth shipyard expected to win £1bn Danish navy contract.

The Rosyth shipyard in Fife is expected to secure a contract to build four frigates for the Danish navy valued more than £1 billion.

The yard, which is owned by British defence contractor Babcock, is also one of the final two bids for a contract with the Swedish navy to build up to seven of the identical Type 31 ships.

The Swedish contract is being competed for with a French shipbuilding outfit that has strong government backing.

The contracts have been discussed for over a year, with decisions due within the next six months.

The increase in exports, which follows a contract to build five Type 31 ships for Britain’s Royal Navy, represents a quick turnaround in Scottish shipbuilding.

It comes after BAE Systems, which operates military shipyards on the Clyde at Scotstoun and Govan, won a contract last week to build Type 26 frigates for the Royal Norwegian Navy.

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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visited Glasgow on Thursday to mark that success.

PA Media

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke

The smaller, less complicated, and considerably less expensive Type 31 is a “general purpose” battle ship, also known as Arrowhead 140 by the Babcock team, which sells the design worldwide.

It is based on a design currently in use by the Danish navy and is 455 feet (139 metres) in length and weighs 5,700 tonnes. Each Royal Navy ship is being built for £250 million at the price announced in 2019.

That resulted in a loss for Babcock on the first two ships, but the company claims it is currently bringing expenses on the third ship in line with the budget.

The first of the Royal Navy’s Type 31 ships, HMS Venturer, has already been launched in the Firth of Forth and is currently being fitted up in dry dock.

Two more are under development, with all five set to be ready by 2030.

PA Media Construction work continues on HMS Venturer(top) and HMS Active in the Venturer building ahead of the Steel Cut ceremony for the Royal Navy's third in class Type 31 frigate, HMS Formidable, at Babcock International Group, in Rosyth — The Type 31 frigate is seen as a versatile ship model which is designed to take different weapons systems

NATO navies are planning for greater cooperative operations to address Russian threats in the North Atlantic, North Sea, and Baltic. Babcock positions the Type 31 as a versatile ship capable of operating in a variety of fleets.

It is intended to accept various armament systems of the navy’s choosing and to be produced on a manufacturing line faster and more efficiently than previous ships.

Admiral Sir Nick Hine, Babcock’s head of the Type 31 development and former Second Sea Lord in the Royal Navy, stated that the priority for procuring ships have long been “performance, cost, and timing,” but this has now been flipped.

“It’s the ship that navies need,” he added. “It is inexpensive and versatile, and we can produce it in ten years.

This has never been done before. Rosyth’s future seems quite promising.” Sir Nick has set a target for his team to build 31 Type 31 ships by 2031.

That is made possible by leasing the design to other shipyards. The Babcock design has been sold to the Indonesian and Polish governments for construction in their respective yards.

A Rosyth team is currently working in Poland, which is being viewed as important experience in learning how another shipyard operates.

Babcock already has a large covered hall at the Fife dockyard that allows two frigates to be built side by side without interruption due to weather.

It intends to build another hall of the same size if additional orders are received.

Babcock estimates that if the Danish and Swedish bids are successful, the Rosyth workforce of 2,500 may grow to 4,000, in addition to its other work in aircraft carrier maintenance for the Royal Navy.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is spending six months in Rosyth, six years after joining service.

The yard serves the Royal Navy’s research ships, the British Antarctic Survey vessel HMS Sir David Attenborough, and the Serco ships that travel between Aberdeen and the northern isles.