Babcock’s cheaper warships offer the Royal Navy hope

The Navy is in a very difficult position, and its frigates are falling to bits,” says Steve Prest, associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank..."Once you get good at making ships, keep going. It is very difficult to start again when you have stopped,” Prest remarks. There is an obvious industrial logic to continuity. Not only does it provide steady investment for one of the UK’s big defence groups but it helps to build Scotland’s economy and revive a valuable industry.