Defence giant with Portsmouth presence BAE Systems ramps up munitions production thanks to new tech

BAE Systems is erecting shipping container units at sites across the country to produce RDX explosives, which are used in 155mm rounds for Army weaponry. Steve Cardew, business development director at BAE Systems’ Maritime and Land Defence Solutions, said European nations were struggling to produce explosives at sufficient scale in large-scale facilities.

He added: “Our leap forward in synthetic energetics and propellant manufacture will strengthen the UK’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.”

BAE’s plans will see each shipping container produce up to 100 tonnes each year on a smaller but more efficient scale using new, automated technology. It’s expected the company’s production of 155m rounds will increase by 16-fold over two years once the company’s explosive filling facility at Glascoed, south Wales, is operational during the summer.

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Ukraine fighting against the illegal invasion from Russia, and other worldwide conflicts, are increasing demands for the products. The company has previously relied heavily on imported RDX explosives from the US and France.

BAE Systems, which has a heavy presence in Portsmouth and elsewhere, has also invested £8.5m into other manufacturing methods over the last five years, leading to significant breakthroughs in the creation of next generation explosives and propellants. The new methods will use continuous flow processing to synthesise explosive material and remove the need for Nitrocellulose and Nitroglycerine, which are high in demand across global supply chains, in propellant production.

A pilot of the new technology saw explosives produced in small nodes, and if fully operational, would remove the need for a large-scale explosive factory. The new propellant formulation and associated manufacturing process have been demonstrated across a wide range of products from small arms to large calibre munitions. The company previously announced that dozens more jobs would be coming to Portsmouth and the south of England.