Kier Graham Defence starts piling for Dreadnought weapons loading facility at Coulport

GRAHAM has broken ground on a new Vertical Embarkation System facility at Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) Coulport, with piling under way on a building the contractor expects to be operational within two years.

The structure, known as Building 300, will house the Vertical Embarkation System, or VES, which GRAHAM said is a new facility for loading tactical weapons onto the future Dreadnought-class deterrent submarines.

Kier Graham Defence (KGD) is the construction partner on the project. GRAHAM said the facility would support future submarine operations at His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde.

Commodore Andy Bray, Naval Base Commander Clyde, said: "I am thrilled to be able to break ground on this fantastic facility."

He added that the building would be "a much-needed and exciting addition to the Coulport landscape".

The groundbreaking

Staff from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), Deputy Head Infrastructure, the Submarine Support Team and Babcock's Torpedo Loading Party attended the ceremony to mark the start of work, according to GRAHAM.

The contractor's announcement did not give a contract value, a floor area or a date for the start of the main construction phase.

KGD on the Clyde

The project is the latest in a run of work for KGD at the Clyde naval base. GRAHAM's framework page says Kier GRAHAM Defence is one of three contractors appointed to the DIO's Clyde Commercial Framework, which it values at £750m to £1.5bn and which covers building, civil engineering and mechanical and electrical works at HMNB Clyde.

The framework is a ten-year programme running from 2018 to 2028, GRAHAM said, with individual projects typically worth between £10m and £90m.

In June 2021 the DIO announced it had awarded Kier Graham Defence Ltd an £80m contract for the Submarine Training Facility at HMNB Clyde. The DIO said the facility was to provide all submarine-specific training, including training for submariners on the new Dreadnought Class boats.

The Dreadnought programme

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) said in its 2025 Defence Nuclear Enterprise update to Parliament that four Dreadnought Class submarines are being built to replace the Vanguard Class.

The UK Government's Delivering for Scotland site said personnel numbers at HMNB Clyde are expanding ahead of Dreadnought entering service in the early 2030s.

Investment in the base

On 14 July 2026 the MOD announced it is investing £26bn over ten years to modernise HMNB Clyde, HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth. The same announcement said Faslane will be transformed with £15.1bn of Defence Investment Plan funding into what it described as a modern, more efficient base.

Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: "This £26 billion investment is the largest in our naval bases since the Cold War, and Scotland is central to it."

The announcement described Faslane as Scotland's largest military establishment.

GRAHAM said the Building 300 facility is expected to be operational within the next two years.