Sheffield Forgemasters, a historical name in steel forging which was rescued from financial difficulties in 2021, becoming a separate body wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence, has now signed a a contract for new Top-Hat furnaces with Dewsbury-based Northern Combustion Systems (NCS).

NCS will supply two, bespoke, Top-Hat Furnaces which will measure 11m long x 10m wide x 6m tall for the smaller of the two, and 30m long x 11m wide x 6m tall for the largest. These new furnaces are scheduled for installation in October 2025 and April 2027 as part of a much larger investment programme which will create a new, vast facility for supply of defence-specific forgings and castings.

They will operate alongside seven larger furnaces. The new furnaces are specifically destined to manufacture critical components for the UK/SSN-AUKUS submarine programmes and other key defence programmes.

Earlier this year, in July, Sheffield Forgemasters had submitted a planning application for a 30,000 m2 machining facility to be built on brownfield land in Sheffield’s Meadowhall district. Work is expected to start before the end of the year in on a 16-acre plot at Weedon Street, and will see the building of a massive main new structure with a circa 272.5 x 110-metre footprint, standing 32 metres tall. It is meant to be outfitted with 17 new machines, including some of the largest and most advanced five-axis Vertical Turning Lathes ever produced. It will be one of the world’s most advanced large machining facilities.

A second, smaller building will be buit nearby, of circa 3,500 m2, with a state-of-the-art test-house facility and a dedicated training area, to transfer vital skills to the next generation of engineers. Sheffield Forgemasters has recently also been tasked by the MOD to rebuild a national capacity for the forging of high calibre artillery barrels, with initial focus on 105- and 155-mm barrels to support L118/119 Light Guns and AS90 self-propelled howitzers which have also been supplied to Ukraine. After the 2021 takeover, a 400 million pounds investment over 10 years was launched which saw the near immediate order of a 13,000-tonne forging press, shipped from Japan in 2022, and Two large Vertical Turning Lathes from Germany.

The build of the first SSN-A is expected to start in 2028, with the project already in detailed design and long lead items procurement phase.

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