By Aileen Robertson

DESIGN CONTRACTS announced yesterday for the Royal Navy’s new generation of aircraft carriers have been welcomed by trade unions at Rosyth.

Defence procurement minister Lord Drayson announced contracts to refine and develop the design of the two 65,000-tonne warships, which will be assembled and commissioned at the Fife dockyard.

The Ministry of Defence and its five Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) partners—BAE Systems, KBR, Thales UK, VT Group and Rosyth owner Babcock—have also signed an agreement that will take the £3 billion project through the current demonstration phase.

Babcock has teamed up with Lauder College in Dunfermline and Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy to train apprentices to carry out the work. It is expected to bring 450 jobs to the area, with 150 apprentices to start this summer.

Despite the date for main gate approval for the Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) project already having been delayed by two years, Raymond Duguid, chairman of Rosyth Industrial Trade Unions, said this latest step forward in the project’s demonstration phase was “very positive news.”

He said, “I think the long-term future of Rosyth looks bright as long as the carriers get built. But I can’t see them not getting built here. Rosyth has the workforce and the infrastructure around it to get the work done.

“People at Rosyth seem to be a bit sceptical about things but we’re going in the right direction.”

Mr Duguid said the MoD had learned from its mistakes in the past and the delay in reaching main gate stage was justified. Main gate approval had been expected in February 2004.

“Demonstration phase started last October to November and should take about a year.

“The MoD are not going to be hurried into anything. They want to make sure things are done right and make sure the taxpayer gets value for money.

“They don’t want to go down the road of Nimrod and Astute, when they had to go back and re-address dates and techniques. They hadn’t fully de-risked the project. But everybody is more on the ball on this one. If CVF comes off, things will look very positive for Rosyth. If the carriers are built here, they will be around for 50 years and Rosyth will be in the hunt for refitting and upgrading work.”

Lord Drayson said, “The Aircraft Carrier Alliance has signed a formal alliance agreement and, complementing this excellent news, I can also announce that individual companies have received contracts totalling more than £140 million to continue to refine and mature all aspects of the ship design and its ship equipment, including mission systems and the planned all-electrical power and propulsion system.”

The contracts involved maturing the design to a point at which the MoD could commit itself to manufacture.

“This project will ultimately give Britain’s armed forces the largest and most powerful surface warships in their history and an expeditionary capability unmatched outside the US.

“It is also key to the UK defence industrial strategy and our plans to introduce a managed and steady workstream to allow industry to plan for the future efficiently and effectively.”