(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - May 7, 2009: Britain will shake up its Royal Navy base structure, swapping around the nuclear submarine fleet, the surface fleet and maintenance work among Faslane, Devonport and Portsmouth. 
By 2017, Faslane Naval Base will become the only dedicated nuclear submarine base in Britain. (MAURICE MCDONALD / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)
The decision marks the end of a lengthy review undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to optimize base requirements as the size of the Royal Navy declines.
In the biggest restructuring of Britain's naval bases for years, Devonport will be stripped of its nuclear attack submarine fleet and possibly its Type 23 frigates. Instead, Western Europe's largest naval facility of its kind will handle most surface ship refits and, subject to final approval, welcome a force of Royal Marine landing craft. The base will retain its position as the home for the Royal Navy's amphibious warships such as HMS Bulwark, HMS Ocean and survey vessels.
Subject to commercial negotiations, the switch to Devonport of most of the surface ship refit work will get under way once work on two new aircraft carriers ramps up in the next couple of years.
Refit work is currently split between Babcock Marine operations in Devonport and Rosyth in Scotland and BVT Surface Fleet in Portsmouth.
Rosyth and Portsmouth will both be engaged in aircraft carrier construction work.
In a statement May 6, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said no decision had been made on the location of a nuclear submarine dismantling facility.
That could end up in Devonport, where contractor Babcock Marine operates a nuclear submarine update and refueling facility.
By 2017, Faslane will become Britain's only dedicated nuclear submarine base. The Scotland base is already home to the Navy's four Vanguard nuclear ballistic missile boats and several aging Swiftsure attack submarines.
The three newest Trafalgar-class boats will move incrementally from Devonport to Faslane, while their remaining four sister subs will remain in the west of England until they are retired.
Britain's attack submarines are being replaced by the seven Astute-class subs to be built by BAE Systems.
The MoD announcement said that the third base, Portsmouth, in southern England, will be home to the first and most complex variant of the Royal Navy's next generation of frigates, the Future Surface Combatant. The FSC fleet, which is likely to include more than one type of warship, will replace Type 23s presently based at Portsmouth and Devonport-based Type 22s.
Subject to MoD decisions, FSC deliveries are likely starting around 2018.
Six new Type 45 destroyers and two new 65,000-ton aircraft carriers will also be based at Portsmouth.
Some major refit work will occasionally be done at Portsmouth to retain skill levels, said the MoD.
The MoD statement said it will look carefully at less complex variants of the FSC and consider the optimal base porting for these vessels, taking into account similarities with existing classes.
"This work will inform the decision about whether there is any case to change the base porting of the Type 23 frigates," it said.
Ainsworth said that the results of the review meant that "Each of our naval bases has a strong future under the plans we have laid out today. We have undertaken an extensive review to ensure that we match the infrastructure in place at the naval bases to the needs of the Royal Navy of the future. The review has identified changes that will align the way in which we provide that support, reducing overhead and excess infrastructure by developing the specializations at each of the bases - and we're confident these changes will lead to savings of several hundreds of millions of pounds," he said.
No base porting changes will take place for five years, said the Armed Forces minister.
By 2017, Faslane Naval Base will become the only dedicated nuclear submarine base in Britain. (MAURICE MCDONALD / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)
The decision marks the end of a lengthy review undertaken by the Ministry of Defence to optimize base requirements as the size of the Royal Navy declines.
In the biggest restructuring of Britain's naval bases for years, Devonport will be stripped of its nuclear attack submarine fleet and possibly its Type 23 frigates. Instead, Western Europe's largest naval facility of its kind will handle most surface ship refits and, subject to final approval, welcome a force of Royal Marine landing craft. The base will retain its position as the home for the Royal Navy's amphibious warships such as HMS Bulwark, HMS Ocean and survey vessels.
Subject to commercial negotiations, the switch to Devonport of most of the surface ship refit work will get under way once work on two new aircraft carriers ramps up in the next couple of years.
Refit work is currently split between Babcock Marine operations in Devonport and Rosyth in Scotland and BVT Surface Fleet in Portsmouth.
Rosyth and Portsmouth will both be engaged in aircraft carrier construction work.
In a statement May 6, Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said no decision had been made on the location of a nuclear submarine dismantling facility.
That could end up in Devonport, where contractor Babcock Marine operates a nuclear submarine update and refueling facility.
By 2017, Faslane will become Britain's only dedicated nuclear submarine base. The Scotland base is already home to the Navy's four Vanguard nuclear ballistic missile boats and several aging Swiftsure attack submarines.
The three newest Trafalgar-class boats will move incrementally from Devonport to Faslane, while their remaining four sister subs will remain in the west of England until they are retired.
Britain's attack submarines are being replaced by the seven Astute-class subs to be built by BAE Systems.
The MoD announcement said that the third base, Portsmouth, in southern England, will be home to the first and most complex variant of the Royal Navy's next generation of frigates, the Future Surface Combatant. The FSC fleet, which is likely to include more than one type of warship, will replace Type 23s presently based at Portsmouth and Devonport-based Type 22s.
Subject to MoD decisions, FSC deliveries are likely starting around 2018.
Six new Type 45 destroyers and two new 65,000-ton aircraft carriers will also be based at Portsmouth.
Some major refit work will occasionally be done at Portsmouth to retain skill levels, said the MoD.
The MoD statement said it will look carefully at less complex variants of the FSC and consider the optimal base porting for these vessels, taking into account similarities with existing classes.
"This work will inform the decision about whether there is any case to change the base porting of the Type 23 frigates," it said.
Ainsworth said that the results of the review meant that "Each of our naval bases has a strong future under the plans we have laid out today. We have undertaken an extensive review to ensure that we match the infrastructure in place at the naval bases to the needs of the Royal Navy of the future. The review has identified changes that will align the way in which we provide that support, reducing overhead and excess infrastructure by developing the specializations at each of the bases - and we're confident these changes will lead to savings of several hundreds of millions of pounds," he said.
No base porting changes will take place for five years, said the Armed Forces minister.
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