FSC deal secures Scottish yards

Friday, July 03, 2009

The MoD and Royal Navy may be closer than they like to admit to signing a deal to build the Future Surface Combatant (FSC).

After a meeting yesterday between BVT and the government over the alleged closure of the shipyards on the Clyde following work on the aircraft carriers, Alan Johnston, the chief executive of BVT said that the MoD and the company were close to signing a deal for the FSC.

The FSC would replace the Type 22 and 23 frigates.

Little has been said about the future of the FSC and in some quarters it has been hinted that the MoD will scrap the programme or delay it by up to a decade in order to save money.

But after a meeting with Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy yesterday, Johnston told reporters that BVT was "close" to signing a deal with the MoD and that the first steel could be cut by 2013.

It is not clear how much work the two shipyards on the Clyde stand to gain from the FSC since the MoD and BVT have been evasive when discussing the programme.

Under an original proposal, the MoD wanted to procure 18 frigates. But given the ministry's recent history of cuts to the Royal Navy procurement programme, this number will surely be reduced.

The news of FSC came as Johnston met with Murphy to discuss the future of the shipyards on the Clyde. Earlier this week it was reported that BVT, the owner of the two major naval shipbuilding yards, was strongly considering their closure after work on the two aircraft carriers is completed by the middle of next decade.

Yesterday Johnston and Murphy maintained that there is no need to worry about the naval shipyards in Scotland closing any time soon because work there is guaranteed for the next 15 years.

"This is the first time a shipyard can look seven years ahead and see a steady order book," Johnston told reporters.
"And we are about to sign an agreement with the Ministry of Defence that gives a workload to our shipyards for the next 15 years.
"I'd be a bullish chief executive if I guaranteed work forever.
"But our mission is to create a sustainable business for the future."

Murphy agreed.

"We are not in the business of offering money for redundancies in the shipyards," he said.