BAE SYSTEMS signs historic co-operation agreement with UK's warship building giants for the Future Aircraft Carriers
29 Oct 2002
BAE Systems today announced details of its shipbuilding strategy as part of its proposals to the Ministry of Defence for the Future Carrier programme. This includes an historic co-operation agreement with the UK's major warship building organisations for the design and build of the ship platforms. This non-exclusive agreement, announced today, was signed between the BAE Systems Prime Contract Office in Bristol, Swan Hunter in Newcastle, VT (Vosper Thornycroft) Shipbuilding on the South Coast, Babcock BES in Rosyth and BAE Systems Sea Systems Group in Barrow-in-Furness and on the Clyde.
This is potentially the deepest level of co-operation in the history of UK warship building and the first time the ship building giants in the UK have worked together to produce a multi-yard build strategy and an integrated approach to deliver a programme of this nature. The co-operative approach results in a solution that will sustain significant shipbuilding jobs for the whole of the UK for years to come. It will utilise and build on the existing skills and infrastructure to ensure both an excellent strategy for the Future Carriers, and a long term solution that will leave the ship building industry in better shape for future domestic and export markets.
The Agreement details the principles by which the team will work together to design, procure, manufacture and trial the warships. Additionally, each of the shipyards has worked with the Prime Contractor to develop a detailed production plan for a significant section of the carrier platform. BAE Systems' proposed method of work distribution for the major elements of the platform will be by allocation, with stringent criteria for demonstrating value for money. A significant proportion of work content from each of the major shipyards will be bought out, ensuring that the whole of the UK industry will have opportunities to compete for substantial work.
A team led by the BAE Systems Prime Contract office, with the involvement of the shipbuilding partners, will manage the final assembly of the Future Carriers. Rosyth in Scotland has been selected as the preferred final assembly site for the two giant vessels. The final assembly activity will be undertaken in the main by the workforce from both Babcock BES in Rosyth and BAE Systems on the Clyde. Inchgreen on the Clyde will remain a backup site, to ensure that a risk mitigation option is available.
The ship platform design work will be undertaken primarily on the Clyde, utilising design staff from around the UK. This further builds on the current multi-yard design team already in place for the Type 45 destroyer programme. As both this programme and the Astute design programme begin to ramp down, the resource will be moved into the existing BAE Systems Carrier design centre at Scotstoun, ensuring continuity of skills, jobs and processes.
Nigel Stewart, Managing Director of the BAE Systems Future Carrier team said: "We are delighted to have achieved such a high level of collaboration and agreement at such an early stage of the project. From our experience on the Type 45 programme, we know it is essential for the shipyards to work in co-operation with us from the outset. Accordingly the work we have jointly undertaken on the build strategy has provided the key information that will allow us to make early recommendations on work allocation to the customer. This will enable the yards to invest with confidence in facilities and resources knowing their future work load."
Jaap Kroese, Chairman of Swan Hunter, said "We are delighted to be a partner with BAE Systems and are impressed with the collaborative way in which they have approached the build strategy for the Carriers. This partnership approach for the carriers is very exciting and represents a new era in UK shipbuilding. Our current excellent relationship with BAE Systems on the landing ships gives me great confidence that the collaboration will be a success."
Paul Lester, Chief Executive of VT Group plc, commented "Our partnership with BAE Systems is well established on the Type 45 programme. The Future Carriers provide a further opportunity to develop a long-term relationship. BAE Systems' approach offers a highly effective solution for this programme, which is so vital for the future of warship building in the UK."
Gordon Campbell, Chairman of Babcock said: "We are obviously delighted to be involved as a significant partner with BAE Systems and the collaborative team for the build of the new carriers and that Rosyth has been chosen as the proposed final assembly site."
Brian Phillipson, Group Managing Director of the BAE Systems Sea Systems Group, said: "The BAE Systems Prime Contract Office has pulled together a very comprehensive build strategy and a very impressive team to support it. The extremely complex nature of these ships, and their sheer scale, means a great deal of collaborative working will be required from everyone involved. This agreement goes a long way towards ensuring that those partnerships are in place and that we are all able to move forward together."'
The shipbuilding strategy has also been endorsed by Northrop Grumman's Newport News, the world's largest aircraft carrier builder, which designs and builds the US Navy's giant 90,000 tonne aircraft carriers. Newport News has full-time staff working alongside the team in the Prime Contract offices at Filton, Bristol, ensuring that best international practice and experience on aircraft carrier programmes is brought to the project.
BAE Systems estimates, from data provided by the warship organisations and the supply chain, that the Future Carrier programme will sustain in excess of 10,000 jobs in the UK between 2006 and 2015.
BAE Systems also announced further extensions to its Future Carrier partnering arrangements with Lockheed Martin and Rolls-Royce. Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems are already partners on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, which is set to deliver the primary aircraft which will operate from the Future Carrier.
About Future Carrier:
Future Carrier (designated CVF) is the project to design and build two carrier vessels that will form the heart of the UK's future force projection capability, to enter service in 2012 and 2015. The future aircraft carriers will enhance the UK's ability to mount joint operations on the world stage and will cope with increasingly heavy and more flexible operational demands.
Requirement:
- The primary role of the Future Carrier is to support aircraft, including the STOVL F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC) solution.
- The Future Carrier must have the capability to deploy and operate aircraft effectively overseas without host nation support in a hostile environment.
- They will be joint defence assets providing increased utility in maritime, land and air operations in both civilian assistance and warfighting roles.
Primary characteristics:
Displacement: over 50,000 tonnes
Complement: 600 crew, with embarked squadron and Command staffs up to 1400 personnel
Propulsion: Not nuclear - a range of options is being considered, including Integrated Full Electric Propulsion (IFEP)
In Service Date: 2012 and 2015 for CVF01 and CVF02
Armament: Will deploy the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) - selected by the UK MoD as the F-35 JSF
Budget: Approximately 2.9 billion initial acquisition and 7 billion through life.
A project of the size, complexity and importance of Future Carrier requires a range of skills and capabilities that will test the resources of any company. Consequently, the BAE Systems Future Carrier Team draws together a wealth of complementary expertise based on real experience and has a number of key UK and international teaming partners:
BAE Systems Future Carrier Office - Prime Contractor
AMS - C4ISR, Information Systems and Systems Engineering
Babcock BES - Ship Build Strategy and Collaborative Through Life Support
BAE Systems - C4ISR, Collaborative Through Life Support
BAE Systems Sea Systems Group - Ship Design and Build Strategy
EDS - Systems Integration
Fleet Support Ltd - Collaborative Through Life Support
Lockheed Martin - Programme Management, Systems and Requirements Engineering, Carrier Air Group Optimisation, C4ISR
Northrop Grumman - Mission Planning, Air Traffic Control, Ship Build Strategy, C4ISR
QinetiQ - Technology Insertion and Test & Evaluation Programmes
Rolls-Royce - Propulsion and Through-Life Support
Strachan & Henshaw - Munitions Handling and Waste Management
Swan Hunter - Ship Build Strategy
VT (Vosper Thornycroft) Shipbuilding - Naval Architecture, Ship Build Strategy, Human Factors, Through Life Support, Control Systems
The BAE Systems Future Carrier Design Team: The current collaborative design team is lead by the Prime Contract Office and includes staff seconded from VT Shipbuilding and BAE Systems Sea Systems Group yards on the Clyde and in Barrow-in-Furness.
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