BAE hopes for more destroyers

The UK?s Defence Secretary, has revealed that he wants eight Type 45 destroyers to be built by BAE Systems and VT Group – provided the price is right.

Only three of the warships, which cost £650m each, are firmly on order so far and there had been fears the class would be capped at six as the MoD seeks cost savings. BAE’s The news is a boon to BAE whose Scotstoun shipyard in Glasgow is building the first Type 45, the HMS Daring. Due to enter service in 2009, the fleet of Type 45s and two planned aircraft carriers will form the backbone of Royal Navy air defences for the first half of this century.

The destroyers support thousands of jobs across the UK. Shipbuilders BAE and VT currently have a contract to deliver three completed warships and build the platforms and equipment for three others. BAE is urging the government to make progress on its order for the next batch of Type 45s by November or December, as it will not be able to hold the price in its supply chain for much longer. A bulk order would see the cost of each ship come down; half the £650m cost is due to the destroyers’ state-of-the-art radar system, PAAMS, which has been developed by MBDA. The system is so sophisticated it can track an object the size of a cricket ball crossing it at three times the speed of sound.

However, BAE is doubtful about securing an order for the next three ships on the timescale it wants. The government has embarked on a defence industrial review, due to report by the end of the year, which will include an assessment of the UK’s maritime industry.