US Navy SEALs' new airlock minisub - made in Blighty

Would the MoD like to buy some? 'No, all their money has to go on keeping BAE Systems alive'

This should mean that the S301 could be used by British frogmen, too, offering the same dry ride in to a landing or a maritime target. We asked Moorhouse if he'd had any interest from the Ministry of Defence.

"No," he said. "They're wedded to the likes of BAE [Systems]. All the MoD's money has to go on keeping them alive. Don't get me wrong - we've had stong interest from the actual services, but they seem to be totally powerless. It's a sad thing."

Funnily enough one of the SBS' more recent acquisitions is known to have been a version of BAE Systems' Talisman unmanned submarine.

Even so, we suggested, it's nice to see British engineering solving a problem that mighty Northrop had stubbed its toe on, and potentially winning a nice bit of export business.

"It's the sort of thing we're good at here [in the UK], solving these one-off little problems," said Moorhouse.

"Frankly this is the same kind of thing that gets done every single year by every race-car team," he added, alluding to Blighty's famous "Motorsport Valley" where most of the world's motor racing titans have their technical headquarters. Motorsport delivers benefit to the UK economy on the same order as the entire ordinary car-making sector - and unlike the ordinary car factories, requires very little in the way of government help.

"Compared to those guys we're rather watered down," says Moorhouse, modestly.

Now, somewhere round here there should be an oil rig full of terrorists.

Comment

Even so, we here on the Reg defence desk would argue that MSubs is the kind of company that the MoD might consider spending our money on, rather than bloated inefficient monoliths like BAE. Genuinely innovative firms who can deliver what nobody else can are a much better investment than pouring taxpayers' cash into BAE to reinvent other people's wheels.

At any rate, it's a nice success story to round off the week with - and perhaps a further illustration of just why British engineering and manufacturing is so far from dead, and of the type of jobs we should nationally be looking to do. ®