Update: BAE Systems Sheffield site to produce howitzers and light vehicles

Building work on BAE Systems' new artillery facility in Sheffield. (BAE Systems)

Opened in June 2025, BAE Systems artillery factory in Sheffield is intended as the site of conversion for vehicles under the Team Lionstrike consortium's proposal for the UK's Land Mobility Programme (LMP), a consortium representative told Janes on 13 November 2025.

As part of what BAE calls its South Yorkshire Defence Hub, work converting General Motors (GM) Defense vehicles for British Army use would take place either at the same site as the howitzer production or expand to a nearby site, the representative said.

BAE Systems announced the building of the new artillery development and production facility in Sheffield, United Kingdom, on 15 November 2024. The 94,000 sq ft (8,730 sq m) facility will produce 155 mm M777 lightweight towed howitzers and support the British government's effort to revitalise its artillery capability, according to a BAE Systems statement at the time.

The facility will bring production of the howitzer back to the UK after it was wound down due to a lack of demand, John Borton, vice-president and general manager for BAE Systems Weapon Systems UK, told Janes on 22 November. The production facility in Barrow-in-Furness was shut down, but engineering and support personnel for the Weapon Systems UK business remained, he continued.

It is being funded with investments of more than GBP25 million (USD31.5 million), according to the BAE Systems statement. This includes funding from BAE Systems and the US Army, Borton told Janes.

US Army contract