Inside the weapons factory putting Britain on a war footing
G rey metal sheds are the future. At least, they are in Sheffield, a proud steelmaking city that wants to be a home for modern industry. Drive along its northeastern reaches, within a stone's throw of the Meadowhall shopping centre, and you'll find box after grey box. There's the ITM Power electrolyser factory. Further down the road, there's a huge slab-like distribution centre, which dispatches PrettyLittleThing dresses to all corners of the country.
In between the two, another metal box plays host to Britain's newest gun factory. Last week BAE Systems cut the ribbon on a 94,000 sq ft site bringing manufacturing of M777 howitzers back to the UK. These 4.2 tonne weapons, developed by BAE in the 1990s, fire 155mm shells at a range of 25km. They are now the field gun of choice for US, Canadian, Australian and Indian forces.
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Eastwood third at Le Mans 24 Hours with Corvette
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