New Aircraft Carriers Begun as Defence Review is Announced

The construction of the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers pressed forward today as Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal performed the steel cutting for the first of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers at BVT Surface Fleet’s shipyard in Govan, Glasgow.

Today’s ceremony marked the start of the manufacture of the Royal Navy’s largest ever warships. Together with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft and the brand new Type 45 destroyers, they will form the cornerstone of Britain’s future ability to jointly project air power worldwide from land or sea at a time and place of UK’s choosing.

Guided by Scott Ballingal, a 21 year old BVT apprentice from Erskine who will be working on the Carriers, Rear Admiral the Princess Royal pushed the button to start the computer guided laser that cut the first piece of steel for the hull of these immense new ships.

Scott is one of 70 new apprentices who have been taken on by BVT to support work on the carrier. The programme has reinvigorated apprenticeship schemes at the prime shipyards and provides a solid workload for the coming years.

Three other major sections (called lower blocks) of the ship will be assembled at yards at Portsmouth and Rosyth. Other fabrication work will be done at the Appledore shipyards in Devon. Each block will be transported to Rosyth dockyard where they will be joined together to form the hull of the ship.

While construction is just beginning, the project has moved on apace since the manufacture contract was signed in July last year, with £700M worth of sub-contracts placed for the equipment and furnishings that will kit out the ships from the weapons systems to the galleys and cabins. UK industry has also benefited from the development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and is well placed to win further work as this programme progresses well into the 21st century.

The news about the carriers came on the same day that Secretary of State for Defence, Bob Ainsworth set out the process towards undertaking a Strategic Defence Review in the next Parliament. The recently updated National Security Strategy (NSS) will provide the framework for the review which will be designed to ensure that the UK’s Armed Forces are fully prepared for future threats and challenges to Britain’s security.

The process will undertake an examination of a range of issues, including:

* the strategic context for defence, including the lessons the UK has learned from recent operations and the changing character of conflict
* experiences of working in partnership with other arms of government
* the contribution defence can make to the projection of soft power – exerting influence to prevent conflicts
* technological changes in defence
* the scope for more effective processes in defence, including acquisition
* the modern day requirements on and aspirations of our Armed Forces personnel

The Government has already made clear that the Trident nuclear system will not be subject to the review and there are strong hints that the two new carriers will also be exempt. Since these are two of the biggest items of expenditure (if the Trident replacement is considered) the RAF’s huge Typhoon (Euro-fighter) order is likely to be in the firing line for cuts.

There may also be pressure for further reductions in the number of single service bases with a growing tendency towards large tri-service units. The number of military headquarters should also be open to question as well as staffing numbers at the Ministry of Defence.