UK defence engineering company Babcock International Group has completed a planned maintenance programme for the HMS Queen Elizabeth, returning the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier to operational readiness at its Rosyth facility in Scotland. The maintenance period involved thousands of engineering hours focused on inspection, repair, and enhancement of critical onboard systems, including propulsion and stabilisation systems, alongside broader repair and renewal work intended to ensure the vessel remains available for operational deployments. The work was carried out by engineers, technicians, and project specialists at Rosyth Dockyard, one of the UK’s largest waterside manufacturing and ship repair facilities. The programme underscores Babcock’s role in sustaining high-end naval maintenance capabilities for the Royal Navy and preserving specialist industrial skills within the UK defence sector.
Phil Craig, managing director of marine programmes at Babcock, said: “This programme of work ensures that the carrier continues to meet the operational demands placed upon her. At a time of increasing global uncertainty, the availability and capability of the UK’s aircraft carriers is more important than ever. This milestone reflects both the strength of collaboration and the depth of expertise required to sustain the Royal Navy’s most complex warships.”
The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy consists of two vessels. The lead ship of her class, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was named on 4 July 2014[16] in honour of Elizabeth I and was commissioned on 7 December 2017. Her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, was launched on 21 December 2017, and was commissioned on 10 December 2019. They form the central components of the UK Carrier Strike Group. The contract for the vessels was announced in July 2007, ending several years of delay over cost issues and British naval shipbuilding restructuring. The contracts were signed one year later on 3 July 2008, with the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a partnership formed with Babcock International, Thales Group, A&P Group, the UK Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems. In 2014 the UK Government announced that the second carrier would be brought into service, ending years of uncertainty surrounding its future. This was confirmed by the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, with at least one carrier being available at any time.
Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and Network Rail. The company has four operating sectors, with overseas operations based in Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australasia. Babcock is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
