IN Brief:
- Rolls-Royce Submarines has partnered with INFINITY to develop advanced component manufacturing and validation at a 200-acre Derby site.
- Planned capabilities include hot isostatic pressing, power beam welding, and directed energy deposition.
- The facilities will support submarine propulsion manufacturing development alongside applications in nuclear energy and aerospace.
Rolls-Royce Submarines has entered a strategic partnership with INFINITY to develop full-scale component prototyping and advanced manufacturing capabilities at a 200-acre technology park in Derby, expanding the industrial resources available to Britain's naval nuclear propulsion programmes.
The partnership will bring together manufacturing development, digital engineering, testing, validation, and specialist skills facilities. Planned technologies include hot isostatic pressing, power beam welding, and additive manufacturing, with the intention of developing production processes for large components used in highly regulated engineering sectors.
INFINITY is developing the technology park as a location where industrial companies, specialist suppliers, universities, and skills providers can work alongside advanced manufacturing equipment. Rolls-Royce's Nuclear Skills Academy already operates at the site, providing an established training presence.
The partners have not disclosed the financial value of their agreement, individual facility construction dates, or the initial components expected to enter prototype production. The announcement establishes the intended development scope rather than confirming that the proposed manufacturing equipment is already operational.
Rolls-Royce supplies the nuclear propulsion technology used by the Royal Navy's submarine fleet, with responsibilities spanning reactor design, manufacturing, support, and maintenance. Its existing programmes include propulsion equipment for Britain's nuclear-powered submarines and the future provision of reactor technology to Australia under AUKUS.
Expanding the capacity to develop new manufacturing processes forms part of the company's response to these commitments. Rolls-Royce intends to continue established manufacturing activity at Raynesway in Derby while using the INFINITY facilities to investigate and validate production methods for future requirements.
Lee Warren, Engineering and Technology Director at Rolls-Royce Submarines, identified the need to increase manufacturing output alongside development of new techniques. He said the additional facilities would allow work on future production methods to progress while existing delivery requirements continued at Raynesway.
Hot isostatic pressing is one of the principal processes planned for the park. It applies elevated temperature and pressure, normally using a pressurised gas, to improve the internal condition of suitable manufactured components or consolidate selected materials.
Under appropriate processing conditions, the technique can reduce internal porosity and improve material consistency. Its effectiveness depends on the properties of the material, the component's geometry, and the temperature, pressure, and processing cycle applied.
Components intended for demanding engineering applications may require extensive inspection and testing after processing. Hot isostatic pressing does not eliminate the need to verify material properties or confirm that the component meets the applicable design and manufacturing requirements.
Power beam welding provides another route for manufacturing large or technically demanding assemblies. The processes identified by INFINITY include electron beam and laser welding, both of which concentrate energy into a defined area to join materials.
Concentrated energy can provide controlled weld penetration and limit the region affected by heating under suitable conditions. The achievable result depends on the material, joint geometry, equipment configuration, and the parameters selected for the process.
Weld quality remains subject to engineering controls covering preparation, process stability, distortion, and examination of the completed joint. Equipment used in safety-critical applications must demonstrate that the specified manufacturing conditions can be repeated reliably.
The additive manufacturing capability planned for the park includes directed energy deposition. This process introduces material into a concentrated energy source, allowing successive layers to be deposited to build a component or add material to an existing structure.
Directed energy deposition can be suitable for particular large components and complex geometries, although the resulting material properties depend on the feedstock, deposition conditions, thermal history, and subsequent processing. Finished components may still require machining, heat treatment, inspection, and qualification.
Bringing these technologies together at a single development site would allow engineers to examine alternative manufacturing routes before introducing them into established production programmes. A component could require several different processes, with their combined effect evaluated through testing rather than assumed from the performance of individual machines.
Digital engineering will form part of the proposed development activity. Modelling, process data, and component measurements can support the comparison of manufacturing methods, helping engineers establish whether a selected approach produces consistent results.
Physical validation remains necessary because simulated behaviour and laboratory results do not always reproduce the conditions encountered during full-scale manufacture. Large components may introduce difficulties involving temperature distribution, residual stresses, dimensional control, and the handling of heavy assemblies.
INFINITY intends to support companies working at high Technology Readiness Levels, where engineering processes and equipment must demonstrate performance in environments representative of their intended applications. This stage requires more substantial evidence than an initial laboratory demonstration.
Moving towards industrial production also involves manufacturing readiness. A process must demonstrate repeatable quality, defined operating limits, suitable inspection procedures, and the ability to manufacture components at the quantities required by the customer.
These requirements are particularly demanding in nuclear and defence engineering, where equipment may remain in service for extended periods and failures can carry significant safety consequences. Traceability of materials, manufacturing records, and qualification evidence forms part of the technical basis for accepting components.
The proposed park will provide a location for suppliers and research organisations to develop these capabilities. Access to large manufacturing equipment can be difficult for smaller engineering businesses where the capital cost, operating requirements, and specialist staffing exceed the needs of an individual development project.
Shared facilities could allow suppliers to investigate processes and develop components before committing to their own production arrangements. The extent of that access, including commercial terms and equipment availability, has not yet been published.
The partnership also connects submarine propulsion engineering with manufacturing requirements in other sectors. INFINITY identifies civil nuclear fission, fusion energy, aerospace, and defence as industries that could use the facilities, although each application will require its own technical assessment and qualification.
Its activities include cooperation with UK Fusion Energy in support of the STEP fusion programme. Manufacturing processes developed for large nuclear components may have applications across several industries, but similarities in fabrication methods do not remove differences between their material specifications, operating conditions, or regulatory requirements.
The wider technology park project is projected to support approximately 17,500 skilled jobs in the East Midlands. That estimate concerns the broader development and should not be interpreted as a confirmed number of new positions directly created by the Rolls-Royce agreement.
Workforce development is already part of the site's activities through the Nuclear Skills Academy. Extending the location into prototype manufacture and testing would introduce further requirements for manufacturing engineers, process specialists, inspection personnel, and equipment operators.
Rolls-Royce's submarine workload is expanding alongside the development of future nuclear-powered vessels for the UK and Australia. The company's production facilities must continue to meet current programme obligations while the supporting industrial base develops equipment and processes for later manufacturing requirements.
The INFINITY partnership provides a proposed route for conducting that development outside the established Raynesway production operation. Its contribution will become measurable as the advanced manufacturing equipment is installed, prototype components are produced, and the relevant processes complete qualification for specific engineering applications.
