£300m Astute order for Barrow shipyard
NORTH West manufacturing has been boosted by news of a £300m order for two more Astute attack submarines to be built in Cumbria.
Defence giant BAE Systems will build the fifth vessel at Barrow-in-Furness and start the procurement process for a sixth.
The contract from the Government was confirmed by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth.
The first of class Astute attack submarine is currently undertaking sea trials, the second (Ambush) is due to be launched later this year, and the third and fourth (Artful and Audacious) are both advanced in their construction.
Mr Ainsworth said: “The Government has made a contractual commitment to proceed with the initial build of Astute Boat 5 and long lead procurement activities associated with Astute Boat 6, at a total cost of over £300m.
“This commitment is necessary now to ensure a consistent workload for the UK’s submarine building industry.
“This investment will allow the timely delivery of the Astute class boats, which are the most advanced attack submarines ever ordered for the Royal Navy.”
John Hudson, managing director of BAE Systems, Submarine Solutions commented: “This order represents a key milestone in the overall Astute class submarine programme, and underlines the Government’s confidence in BAE Systems’ ability to deliver an advanced submarine capability for the Royal Navy.
“The commitment to the successor programme will allow BAE Systems to continue to recruit highly-skilled engineers to meet existing and future workload requirements, and progress the concept design work. Just as importantly, it will help sustain key skills and capabilities throughout our workforce, our suppliers and partners.”
The 7,400 tonne submarines will be the fifth and sixth of what is expected to be a seven boat Astute class.
The Astute class will replace the Swiftsure and Trafalgar class, which have been in-service since the 1970s and 1980s respectively.
Work is expected to start immediately at the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, which emloys around 5,000 staff.
In February BAE said it was looking to make around 230 job cuts at the shipyard.
