Hopes high for Clyde as £127m warship plan announced

Clyde shipbuilding could be a beneficiary of BAE’s  four-year, £127m contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to develop a new generation of warships for the Royal Navy.
The Type 26 frigate line would replace the Type 22 and Type 23 vessels. While the contract team will be based at Bristol in Avon, BAE yards including those on the Clyde and at Portsmouth could be in line to build the ships when construction begins in earnest.
While the development contract will go ahead, the Type 26 series of warships will face the hurdle of a defence spending review.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth told Parliament: ‘It is our duty to provide key equipment that will ensure the UK is properly prepared to meet its own defence needs in an ever changing world, and continue to play an important role in maintaining global security.
‘Programmes like the Type 26 not only ensure the Royal Navy continues to have cutting edge capability but also sustains the industry that supports them. The commitments the MoD has made will protect skills and employment, and preserve the industrial capability needed to carry out future programmes efficiently, in a way that represents value for money.’
The contract team consists of 80 people and that will rise to around 300 over the life of the contract. The four years of work and the team’s findings will also reflect the findings of the government’s defence spending review.
BAE at Govan and Scotstoun is nearing the end of its programme to build a fleet of Type-45 destroyers. Work is also proceeding at Govan on the build for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, which should enter service between 2016 and 2018.