“We’re making defence an engine for growth,” said defence minister Luke Pollard as Whitehall confirmed the UK booked more than £20bn of defence exports in 2025, the highest since records began over 40 years ago. For workers from the Clyde to the Ribble, it closes out the year with firm orders and long-run work.

Scotland’s shipyards are front and centre. Norway’s £10bn order for at least five Type 26 frigates will be built by BAE Systems on the Clyde, sustaining thousands of skilled jobs and hundreds of suppliers. After years of upgrades, Govan’s new covered build hall is already shaping hulls while Scotstoun outfits the first ships.

Lancashire’s aerospace cluster also gets a lift. After a summer pause on Typhoon assembly at Warton, the government’s £8bn deal to sell 20 jets to Türkiye brings final assembly and integration work back to Warton and keeps Samlesbury’s production lines busy. BAE and ministers say the contract underpins thousands of jobs across the North West.

BAE’s chief executive Charles Woodburn called Türkiye’s order “a new chapter” in the partnership, pointing to extended Typhoon production and preserved sovereign skills in Lancashire. First deliveries are due from 2030, with the programme supporting a UK workforce spanning Warton, Samlesbury, Edinburgh and Bristol.

Further south, Cambridge-based Marshall Aerospace will maintain and upgrade 12 UK C-130J aircraft sold to Türkiye under a multi‑year support deal, with work flowing through its Cambridge facility. Government figures say the activity safeguards around 1,400 skilled roles at the site.

In Devon, Supacat has signed to supply 18 HMT Extenda high‑mobility vehicles to Czechia’s armed forces. It’s a tidy export for a homegrown engineering firm, and another proof point that specialist manufacturers across the South West can win on capability and reliability.

Security ties with Norway now run deeper than a ship sale. The new Lunna House agreement means British and Norwegian Type 26s will operate as an interchangeable North Atlantic force, stepping up patrols and training against heightened Russian undersea activity.

That sits alongside the Royal Navy’s “Atlantic Bastion” plan, which blends uncrewed systems with frigates, submarines and P‑8A patrol aircraft to protect cables, pipelines and shipping lanes. Ministers trail early contracts in 2026 as industry readies sensors, drones and software at pace.

Beyond Europe, a new 50‑year AUKUS treaty with Australia locks in submarine co‑operation and supply‑chain work in the UK, with officials flagging up to £20bn in exports and more than 21,000 jobs at peak. Barrow and Derby will feel the benefit as programmes spool up.

Supply chains across the North will want a fair crack at this work. Officials say the Norway frigate deal alone involves over 430 UK businesses, while missile maker MBDA’s Bolton site continues to grow on the back of new contracts. Keep an eye on tenders and supplier days in early 2026.

Not everyone is cheering the Türkiye sale. Rights groups have raised concerns, and ministers will be judged on how they square export growth with the UK’s values. What’s clear is the order protects high‑skill jobs here while bolstering NATO’s southern flank.

Looking to 2026, the government says more export deals are in train-from advanced aircraft to maritime systems and armoured vehicles such as Boxer. Delivery will hinge on workforce capacity and pay settlements after a fractious autumn in parts of the defence sector.