The Government has committed to building at least six new factories across the UK, producing weapons components including propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics. Officials say the investment will restore onshore energetics production for the first time in nearly two decades.
Pembrokeshire on the shortlist
Potential sites include Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, alongside Grangemouth in Scotland and Teesside in Northeast England. Other areas under consideration are Monmouthshire, Cumbria, Dumfriesshire, Ayrshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Worcestershire and Hampshire.
The Ministry of Defence has already commissioned feasibility studies and engineering design work, with construction expected to begin on the first site within the next year.
Jobs and investment
The Government says the programme will create at least 1,000 new jobs nationwide, with Defence Secretary John Healey describing the initiative as “building the factories of the future in Britain.”
He added:
“We are making defence an engine for growth, unambiguously backing British jobs and British skills as we make the UK better ready to fight and better able to deter future conflicts.”
Wider defence investment
Alongside the munitions programme, two new drone factories are opening this week — Helsing’s “resilience factory” in Plymouth and STARK’s new production line in Swindon.
The Government argues that the investment will not only strengthen the UK’s Armed Forces but also deliver a “defence dividend” in the form of skilled jobs and industrial growth across the nations and regions of the UK.
