AWD to Rig 22: Why the Royal Navy Swapped to F1-Grade Fabric

If you've seen Royal Navy working uniform described as "AWD" in older listings and "Rig 22" in newer ones, here's what actually changed — and it's a genuinely interesting one, because the fabric now on a sailor's back started life on a Formula 1 driver.

AWD — Action Working Dress

AWD (Action Working Dress) was the Royal Navy's standard everyday working uniform for years — a practical blue shirt-and-trousers combination worn for day-to-day duties aboard ship, distinct from ceremonial or mess dress.

Genuine Royal Navy AWD (Action Working Dress) working jacket.

Rig 22 — the current replacement

Rig22 is the Royal Navy's newer working uniform, introduced as part of a 10-year, £78 million clothing modernisation project. The headline improvement is the fabric: Rig 22 uses flame-resistant Nomex — the same material used in F1 racing suits — which is both cooler to wear and more fire-resistant than what it replaced. It was developed with feedback from over 7,000 personnel and tested extensively by sailors serving in Gulf heat (temperatures up to 55°C), with wider rollout across the Fleet completing by the end of 2023. If it's good enough to keep a driver safe at 200mph in the desert, it was probably going to work on a warship too.

Genuine Royal Navy Rig 22 trousers — the Nomex-based fabric that replaced AWD.

Why fire-resistant fabric matters on a ship

Fire is one of the most serious hazards aboard any warship — enclosed spaces, fuel, electrics and ammunition all in close proximity, with nowhere to simply walk away from a blaze the way you might on land. That's why flame resistance has long been a priority for naval working dress, and why upgrading the fabric itself, not just the cut or colour, was the actual point of the Rig 22 programme. Nomex is an aramid fibre — a class of synthetic material that's inherently flame-resistant at the molecular level, meaning it doesn't melt onto skin the way some ordinary synthetics can under heat, which is exactly why it's standard in flight suits and motorsport race wear as well as naval working rig.

What actually changed, beyond the fabric

It isn't only the material — Rig 22 was also designed to be cooler and more comfortable to wear for long shifts than the uniform it replaced, an important consideration given how much time working dress is actually worn compared with ceremonial kit. Extensive at-sea testing in genuinely hot climates, rather than a lab alone, was part of how the design was finalised before the wider Fleet rollout.

Completing the look

Working dress isn't just the shirt and trousers — genuine RN stable belts, buckles and accessories exist for both the older AWD pattern and the current Rig 22 pattern, and they're not interchangeable either, since the belt colour and fittings are specific to each generation. If you're putting together a complete, period-accurate working dress outfit rather than just one piece, it's worth checking that accessories match the same era as the main uniform.

Why it matters if you're buying

If you're specifically after an older-style AWD item vs a newer Rig 22 item, check the listing description — they're not interchangeable terms, and the two generations use genuinely different fabric and construction, even though both serve the same everyday working-uniform role. For re-enactors or collectors working to a specific period, this distinction matters more than it might first appear, since the two rigs represent genuinely different eras of Royal Navy working dress rather than a simple rebrand.

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Browse our full range of genuine Royal Navy working and ceremonial uniform, or see our RAF, Royal Navy & Royal Marines uniform guide for the wider picture across services.