The UKÔÇÖs Ministry of Defence has awarded submarine and warship contracts worth a total of ┬ú427 million to BAE Systems.
The first is a four-year contract to develop a design for a new frigate, the Type 26, to replace the current Types 22 and 23.
In addition to being used in anti-submarine warfare, the new frigate will be designed to provide support for land operations, and to carry out surveillance, intelligence, counter-terrorism and piracy operations. It will also assist in disaster relief situations and humanitarian aid projects.
A team of 80 BAE and MOD staff are already working on the project in Bristol, with numbers expected to grow to 300 over the next four years.
The Type 26 is the first of two classes of ships to be built under the Future Surface Combatant (FSC) programme, which is the Navy's largest construction investment after the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier programme. Both FSC ships will be designed with a view to export.
The first of the new ships is expected to go into service in the early 2020s.
BAE was also given the go-ahead to start building a fifth Astute Class nuclear submarine at its Barrow-in-Furness facility, as well as to commence the procurement process for a sixth, at a cost of £300 million.
The first Astute is currently undertaking sea trials, the second is due to be launched this year and another two are in the process of being builtÔÇöat a total cost of ┬ú3.8 billion. The entire programme is for seven boats to replace the NavyÔÇÖs fleet of ageing Trafalgars.
The 7,400 tonne Astute will be built to undertake tasks including intelligence gathering and anti-submarine warfare. With greater communications, operational and weapon capabilities than its predecessors, it will be fitted with Tomahawk cruise missiles and have a strike range of up to 2,000 kilometres.
Commenting on the deals, John Hudson, managing director of BAE SystemsÔÇÖ Submarine Solutions said: ÔÇ£I am delighted the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the submarine programme today. This order represents a key milestone in the overall Astute class submarine programme, and underlines the GovernmentÔÇÖs confidence in BAE SystemsÔÇÖ ability to deliver an advanced submarine capability for the Royal Navy.┬áÔÇ£The commitment to the successor programme will allow BAE Systems to continue to recruit highly-skilled engineers to meet existing and future workload requirements, and progress the concept design work.┬á Just as importantly, it will help sustain key skills and capabilities throughout our workforce, our suppliers and partners.ÔÇØBAE Systems has approximately 107,000 employees worldwide. In 2009, it had sales of ┬ú22.4 billion.
