The UK government is set to announce a £350 million contract to refit one of its nuclear submarines in a move that will secure 2,000 jobs.
The work, which will be carried out at Babcock's Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth, will include fitting the Royal Navy's HMS Vengeance with a new reactor core, as well as refitting and refuelling of the vessel.
Equipment on board the submarine will be completely overhauled, with missile launch capabilities improved and computer systems upgraded. The work programme is expected to last between three and four years.
HMS Vengeance weighs around 15,000 tonnes. It is one of the UK’s four Vanguard-class submarines designed to carry Trident nuclear missiles.
The contract is expected to secure more than 1,000 jobs at the site itself, as well as a further 1,000 jobs further down the supply chain.
Defence secretary Philip Hammond is set to confirm the contract in an announcement during a visit to Devonport later today.
Babcock is an engineering support services organisation with revenues of around £3 billion in 2010 and an order book in excess of £12 billion. The company employs approximately 27,000 people.
