Weapons giant BAE Systems says it has made a "leap forward" in its production of munitions that promises to strengthen º£½ÇÊÓƵ supplies.
The engineering giant says the breakthrough in production will benefit its factories in the North East, at Washington, in Cheshire and Monmouthshire. Bosses say they have developed new approaches to the manufacturing of energetics and propellants - critical materials in the making of munitions.
A pilot programme has already proven the technological breakthrough in explosives manufacturing with BAE saying it could remove the need for a large-scale explosive factory. It says the new propellant type and its associated manufacturing process has been demonstrated in a wide range of products including small arms and large calibre munitions.
The methods - developed to require lower investment with reduced running costs- use a continuous flow processing and remove the need for nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine which are in high demand across the world for propellant production.
BAE says the developments follow more than £150m of investment in its º£½ÇÊÓƵ munitions facilities over the past three years. A further £8.5m has been poured into novel manufacturing methods over the last five years. It expects to deliver a sixteen-fold increase in production capacity of 155mm artillery shells when its a new explosive filling facility is opened at Glascoed, South Wales, this summer.
Steve Cardew, business development director at BAE Systems’ Maritime and Land Defence Solutions, said: "Our leap forward in synthetic energetics and propellant manufacture will strengthen the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s supply chain resilience and support our ramp up of critical munitions production to meet growing demand in response to the increasingly uncertain world we’re living in. It also supports economic growth through high-skilled jobs and potential export opportunities.â€
Two years ago, and following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence boosted its munitions order with BAE to £410m - bringing new work to the firm's North East and Wales sites. Overall about 200 new jobs were added to BAE's 1,200-strong º£½ÇÊÓƵ munitions workforce with more than 100 created at the Washington site.
Earlier this year, the defence contractor - which also makes weapons such as missiles, tanks, submarines, warships and fighter aircraft - said it had secured orders worth more than £33.7bn thanks to strong demand from countries amid heightened global tensions. The order book took BAE's backlog to a record £78bn. Overall sales grew 14% to £28.3bn as º£½ÇÊÓƵ sales were up 12% year-on-year to £7.5bn. The firm's largest market - the US - saw sales rise 175 to £12.5bn.
BAE's Washington base was opened in 2012 and extends about 28,000 sqm, employing 340 people. It also operates a 960 acre range in Northumberland where it tests munitions.
