British plan repurposes abandoned factories for munitions.
The Guardian newspaper, citing documents released in response to a Freedom of Information request and a report by the investigative website Ferret, wrote that British Ministry of Defense officials have spoken in their internal correspondence of the “beginning of a major activity” to develop explosives production in the country, registered in official documents as “Project Nobel” and its aim is to produce explosives such as TNT, RDX and nitrocellulose on large-scale in the UK.
According to the report, the Ministry of Defense, together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Industrial Safety Authority, has identified at least a dozen closed oil refineries and chemical complexes in various parts of England, Wales and Scotland as potential sites for the construction of new explosives and munitions factories.
According to observers, the plan is seen as a symbol of the gradual turn of the crisis-ridden British economy towards the militarization of industrial infrastructure and the establishment of a permanent war economy.
The Grangemouth refinery and industrial complex in Scotland, the oldest in the UK and which ceased processing crude oil this year, tops the list, with several sites deemed “suitable”. Other sites include industrial facilities on Teesside in the north-east, the defunct Milford Haven refinery in Wales, several complexes in Cumbria, and an oil terminal on the shores of Loch Long in Scotland, which is close to one of the largest underground ammunition depots in Europe.
The Guardian reports that the list was revealed when the UK Ministry of Defence failed to properly black out parts of the text in response to a request for information about Grangemouth, allowing the classified sections to be read.
In these correspondences, Ministry of Defence officials have stressed that abandoned refinery and chemical sites are a “priority” for becoming a center for explosives production due to previous safety assessments, access to rail, road, dock, and energy infrastructure, and in addition, the wave of oil industry closures in these areas has resulted in an unemployed and ready-to-work industrial workforce available.
In response to the publication of these documents, the British Ministry of Defence announced that a final decision on the location of the factories has not yet been made, but confirmed that as part of its new defense strategy, it has earmarked around £1.5 billion for the construction of at least six new munitions and “energetic” materials factories and the creation of an always-on production line.
The plan is defined within the framework of the review of the British defense strategy, which emphasizes “preparedness for war” and strengthening the domestic production capacity of munitions with the aim of reducing dependence on foreign supply chains. According to the document, Keir Starmer’s government plans to order up to 7,000 domestically produced missiles and long-range weapons, in addition to building new munitions factories, and consolidate Britain’s position as a major arms supplier to NATO. European media have described the package as part of a broader trend in Europe moving towards a “war economy” in the wake of the Ukraine war.