Delay fear on carriers
Jul 15 2003 By The Journal
Call to go ahead with giant ships
The Government was last night facing calls to reaffirm its commitment to build the two giant new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy after the report that rising costs may mean the ships will be much smaller than originally planned.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats warned that the Government's entire defence strategy would be thrown into disarray unless it went ahead with the vessels as planned.
According to a report in the Financial Times, BAE Systems, which has the lead role in the programme, has told the Ministry of Defence that the ships will cost £4bn to build rather than the £2.8bn estimated in January.
The paper said that, with no more money available for the project, planners had been asked to look at designing two smaller, less sophisticated ships carrying as few as 20 aircraft rather than the 48 that had been envisaged.
They warned that failure to go ahead with the carriers as planned would have serious implications for the whole of the Government's policy, set out in the strategic defence review (SDR).
"The tragedy is that the fleet has already been cut to pay for these new ships, but there is no guarantee that they will ever make it down the slipway," said shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin yesterday.
"The Government must promise that they will build the carriers and to the planned size. Labour made these ships a centrepiece of the country's defence policy and yet the project is falling apart.
"The future of the Royal Navy rests on this programme. Will we remain a major naval power or are we going to end up with little more than a coastal force?"
Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Paul Keetch said: "The new carriers are the cornerstone of the SDR and the expeditionary strategy. With downgraded carriers, the SDR falls.
"A clear statement of intent from Geoff Hoon is required. Will he downgrade the carriers, pay the extra money or lean on BAE to deliver to specification, on time and on budget?"
