UK defence company Babcock International has entered into a strategic agreement with US shipbuilding company HII to collaborate on naval and civil nuclear decommissioning and construction opportunities in the UK and the US.

Babcock International

Under the agreement, both companies will apply their complementary capabilities to existing nuclear decommissioning contracts for US ships and UK submarines.

They will also share best practices and provide the opportunity to upskill and enhance both organisations’ capability for the benefit of the US and UK programmes.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) also identifies opportunities for cooperation in civil nuclear, including power plant and component design, fabrication and construction in North America and the UK. This will include leveraging the capability of their wholly-owned subsidiary, Cavendish Nuclear.

“As we expand our presence globally this is an important agreement to leverage more than 60 years of HII expertise in complex nuclear processes on behalf of civil and defence customers,” said Chris Kastner, president and CEO of HII.

“We are excited to explore with Babcock potentially promising opportunities for both companies.”

“This collaboration supports our expanding global reach and capability,” said David Lockwood, CEO of Babcock.

“We look forward to working with HII to realise the benefits that our collaboration can bring to the nuclear programmes in UK, US and beyond.”

Furthermore, the companies will work on combined capability in defence can be applied in support of the AUKUS programmes.