(Europa) The Royal Navy

[Joey T]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8209-1089477,00.html">http://business.timesonline.co.uk/artic ... 77,00.html</a><!-- m -->

MoD rejects BAE as lead contractor in £3bn carrier deal
By Russell Hotten
April 27, 2004

BAE SYSTEMS, Britain’s biggest defence group, has been dropped as lead contractor on a £3 billion aircraft carrier project, it emerged yesterday, sending relations between the company and the Ministry of Defence to new lows.

Whitehall officials are incensed by BAE’s announcement that it is considering the sale of its shipbuilding operations, seen by the MoD as an attempt to “strong arm” it over the deal. One official said: “It’s irresponsible. They are trying to stir up a storm among the defence lobby.” Another added: “They’ve thrown their toys out of the pram.”

If BAE were to sell its shipbuilding operations, the MoD may be forced to renegotiate the aircraft carrier deal. BAE was told two weeks ago that the project would be run by an alliance rather than a single company, a system proposed by Amec, the project engineering group advising the MoD.

The MoD decided that BAE could not be trusted with the project after the defence group indicated that delivery of the first carrier may be delayed by two years. BAE also told the MoD that the proposed cost of the vessels would have to rise £1 billion to £4 billion. “It won’t happen,” said a defence official. “There will be no compromise on price.”

Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, has informed BAE that he will not be held to ransom over the cost and timing of the carrier programme. A defence source said: “Trying to threaten ministers with a withdrawal from shipbuilding could be a catastrophically stupid move.” BAE denied that its announcement on the future of shipbuilding was linked to the carrier.

BAE owns two shipyards in Glasgow, and a site at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, making three nuclear submarines. Britain’s VT Group and America’s General Dynamics are tipped as possible buyers, but the Government may balk at strategic defence businesses being sold to foreign companies.

As prime contractor on the carriers, BAE would have been in charge of the most lucrative part of the project, integrating the various elements, such as the defence and computer systems. But BAE’s poor record on delivering major projects, such as the Nimrod aircraft, made the MoD look at alternative ways of working. The MoD was criticised in January by the National Audit Office for allowing projects to spiral out of control. And Lord Bach, the defence procurement minister, was determined to find a new way of working, seeing the carrier programme as a test case.

The project will be run by an alliance of companies, including Thales, VT Group, Babcock, and BAE, each with representatives on a board, with the Defence Procurement Agency acting as chairman. Each company will share more of the risk and reward for building the vessels on time and budget.

ALVIS INQUIRY

The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate the proposed £309 million takeover of Alvis, the UK armoured vehicle maker, by General Dynamics, the US defence group. The Department of Trade and Industry said the takeover, the first major bid by a US company for a UK defence firm, had national security implications. BAE Systems owns 29 per cent of Alvis, and was due to decide soon whether to sell its stake. GD is tipped as a potential buyer of BAE’s submarine business.

Leider nur in englisch - sieht aber nicht gut aus für die beiden britischen CVF. Am Ende gibts ne zweite konventionell betriebene CdG und die Briten dürfen bei Thales anstehen :evil: