By Lars Niven

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is set to give the green light to build the Royal Navy’s next generation of aircraft carriers.

Two supercarriers, the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Of Wales, are to be built as part of a £3.8 billion project that will secure up to 10,000 jobs and create hundreds more.

At 65,000 tonnes each, the vessels will be the largest warships ever ordered by the navy.

The news ends months of speculation over the project’s start date and kills off fears the MoD might not be able to afford the ships.

The announcement has been greeted with jubilation by workers at Rosyth Dockyard, which is understood to have won up to £800 million worth of work—including the final assembly of both vessels.

Raymond Duguid, chairman of the dockyard’s industrial trades union joint council, said, “This really cements our future, with about nine years work initially and then potential refit work for the next 50 years.”

He added, “I think it’s deserved by the workforce because we put ourselves in the position where we are the leader in what we do.”

Rosyth has a workforce of 1250, with the new work likely to generate another 150 jobs.

However, Mr Duguid warned UK shipyards could not afford to get too carried away with the news.

“We’ve all seen the peaks and troughs where we take on people and then have to pay them off,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to be very cautious.”

The MoD is expected to get the ball rolling this week by writing letters to BAE Systems and the VT Group, guaranteeing them the project will go ahead.

BAE Systems and the VT Group will then form a partnership, and contracts are expected to be signed in about six weeks.

Work should start almost immediately, and the first pieces of steel could be cut at Rosyth in under three months, according to Mr Duguid.

Bernie Hamilton, the national officer for aerospace and shipbuilding with the Unite trade union, said, “It’s great news for the workforce in the whole of shipbuilding in the UK.”

John Park, the Labour MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said, “Everyone I speak to at the dockyard is really excited about the fact that the carriers are coming.

“The workforce have been through the mill over the years, but they are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s changed days from when we lost the Trident (nuclear submarine refit) contract to Devonport in 1993,” he added.

“The apparent delays with this contract haven’t been delays at all—it’s been about getting the best deal possible for the taxpayer, and I can understand why the MoD wanted to do that.”

Duncan McPhee, Unite convener at BAE Systems’ Clyde yard, said, “We are absolutely delighted with the news.

“It’s a really good thing for us, especially seeing as we’ve been waiting for some time for the announcement to be made.

“Obviously we welcome the decision because it’s a substantial contract.”

He added, “It’s unlikely that the contract will generate a huge amount of jobs, because BAE Systems has had a bit of a recruitment drive over the last four years, taking on around 100 apprentices every year.

“It’s more about sustaining the 3500-strong workforce we already have on the Clyde, stabilising these jobs and maintaining them for years to come.”

An MoD spokesman said he could not give an official date for the go-ahead, but added the ministry was “very hopeful” it would be this week.

“Discussions are continuing and we are very hopeful that the contracts can be concluded shortly,” he said.

The two supercarriers are due to be handed over to the navy in 2014 and 2016.