BAE Systems Barrow lands £328m Trident contract
Last updated at 15:19, Tuesday, 22 May 2012
The Government has announced it is handing a £328m contract to BAE to design the replacement of the Trident nuclear deterrent.
The Ministry of Defence today said it had placed the first design contracts for the Vanguard replacement programme with the three main industrial partners, BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines, Rolls-Royce and Babcock.
It follows an announcement in May, 2011 when the government approved the programme’s Initial Gate phase. Around 1,000 people work on the new class of submarines at the company’s site in Barrow, and in February it announced plans to create an additional 280 new jobs this year.
The Conservatives have said they are committed to a full renewal of the UK’s fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines by 2028, but Lib Dem defence minister Nick Harvey has been conducting a review of possible cheaper alternatives.
The first of the four Vanguards had been due to leave service in 2022, but the Government extended the vessels’ lives as part of the 2010 Defence and Security Review. Final decisions about ordering replacements do not have to be taken until 2016, after the next General Election.
Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said: "This important and overdue staging post will be warmly welcomed in the yard but underlines the Conservative-led government's folly in delaying the overall programme and postponing the main vote on whether to go ahead until after the election.
"This project is up against the clock because of government-imposed delays and uncertainty and risks costing taxpayers more as a result.
"The government should take this opportunity to end their Jekyll and Hyde approach to renewing the deterrent and agree to put national security over political wrangling."
First published at 11:51, Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
@ Bert, why the negativity? Ask the next person to be hit by a Tomahawk missile. I bet he/she was worth the £500,000 in taxpayers money.
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Ah, the ill informed idiots always try to knock things don't they?
For information, BAE is the biggest employer in Barrow, employs mostly people from Furness, supports literally thousands of local families, hundreds of local firms, and puts more cash into the local economy than any other business in Barrow. Isn't it very sad that these obviously unskilled, unable, unwilling to work idiots feel the need to have a dig at what is an incredible opportunity for Barrow. Get a job, get a life, then you may be qualified to comment, instead of sponging off the rest of us. (And, in the end, sponging off BAE, that very same company you feel inclined to slag off.)
Posted by neeklad on 26 May 2012 at 14:47