Luke Pollard MP used the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference to set out how defence spending is being asked to do two jobs at once: deter threats and support the real economy. The message to industry was plain enough: the Royal Navy’s move to a hybrid fleet is also an industrial policy that creates work for British yards, electronics firms and software houses.

He framed maritime security as an economic dependency. A £2.8 trillion economy built on instant data, just‑in‑time logistics and subsea cables only works if sea lanes and underwater infrastructure are secure. That is the backdrop to procurement and industrial decisions now being pushed through the Ministry of Defence.

On funding, Pollard highlighted an additional £5 billion in this year’s defence budget and a glidepath to 2.5 percent of GDP on defence by 2027, with ambitions to reach 3 percent in the next Parliament and 3.5 percent by 2030. For companies, that signals multi‑year demand spanning surface ships, submarines, autonomous systems and naval air.

Two documents sit behind the push. The Strategic Defence Review published in June set a NATO‑first posture and a shift to warfighting readiness. September’s Defence and Industrial Strategy promised faster procurement, ‘spiral’ upgrades, and more room for SMEs and exporters. The Royal Navy’s shipbuilding pipeline already supports 36,000 UK jobs, backed by £6.9 billion invested across surface and submarine fleets.

The near‑term test case is Atlantic Bastion - an AI‑enabled shield of sensors, crewed and uncrewed vessels designed to protect North Atlantic sea lanes and subsea assets. Government unveiled 20 phase‑one contracts worth £4 million, with a £35 million pot set to follow within 12 months for the strongest ideas. Officials expect the programme to secure between 3,000 and 6,000 UK jobs in a global market valued around £350 billion.

Policy is being anchored in places, not just programmes. Five defence growth zones - in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - can draw on a £250 million skills, innovation and infrastructure fund to crowd in private capital. Early signs are positive: Helsing’s new autonomous marine facility in Plymouth, tied to UK–Germany defence collaboration, represents a £350 million commitment and an initial 50 jobs.

Shipbuilding is gathering pace. Steel has been cut at Appledore for RFA Resurgence, the first Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship built in a British yard for many years. The contract underwrites two skills pipelines with local colleges, 170 apprenticeships, around 300 jobs in Appledore, roughly 800 across the supply chain, and around 900 roles at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast yard - the first government‑ordered ship there in 22 years.

Submarine capacity is being reinforced. A £200 million Barrow Transformation Fund is intended to shore up facilities and workforce for Astute and Dreadnought boats and the continuous at‑sea deterrent. The aim is straightforward: remove bottlenecks so schedules hold and the skills base deepens.

Exports are part of the story. Type 26 frigates on the Clyde are being built for the Royal Navy and for Norway under a £10 billion arrangement, supporting an estimated 2,000 jobs across the UK supply chain and tightening interoperability in the North Atlantic.

Advanced weapons are moving from trials to kit lists. A £316 million contract for the DragonFire laser will fit the first system to a Type 45 destroyer by 2027. With a stated cost of about £10 per shot against drones, the economics change. MBDA says the programme supports more than 550 skilled jobs across Edinburgh, Cambridge, Bolton, Bedford, Portsmouth and Farnborough.

Deal flow has accelerated since the general election, according to the Ministry of Defence. Over 1,000 major contracts have been signed, 86 percent with UK‑based businesses, and more than £1.7 billion of foreign direct investment has flowed into the sector. For SMEs, clearer demand signals and shorter contract cycles are the key test.

Risks remain: delivery timetables, skills shortages and the step from ‘interoperable’ to truly ‘interchangeable’ with allies. But if Atlantic Bastion’s follow‑on awards land on time and the growth‑zone model keeps pulling in private cash, the defence pivot could start to look less like a strategy document and more like a durable order book on yards and shop floors from Plymouth to the Clyde.