Future Aircraft Carrier (Hansard, 15 December 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)
My Lords, the process to select the physical integrator for the future aircraft carrier project is ongoing, and we anticipate announcing the outcome shortly.

§ Lord Astor of Hever
My Lords, I very much hope that an announcement for such a high-profile project will be made to Parliament first, and not to the media after we have risen. What will the role of the physical integrator be? How will it relate to the existing members of the alliance? Will it be risk-sharing or just taking a fee?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, it is anticipated that each of the two new aircraft carriers will be the equivalent of building approximately seven to eight Type 45 destroyers, which demonstrates how large they will be. Building and physically integrating the vessels is one of the biggest challenges facing the project. The role of the physical integrator is to help to strengthen that aspect of the project. We expect whoever is appointed to work with all potential shipyards—four have been named—manufacturing facilities and alliance participants to draw up a cost-effective strategy covering the manufacturing element of the programme. Among the core requirements are likely to be innovation, the prioritisation of design 1332 activities, block integration and management of the ship-build strategy. The role of the physical integrator will not be limited to those tasks.

§ Lord Craig of Radley
My Lords—

§ Lord Redesdale
My Lords—

Noble Lords
Cross Bench!

§ Lord Craig of Radley
My Lords, when are the two vessels expected to be in service? Is the delay in appointing the physical integrator likely to affect the forecast dates?

§ Lord Bach
No, my Lords. Our planned dates remain 2012 and 2015. We are determined to reach the right decision on who should be the physical integrator. It is more important to get it right than to rush it.

§ Lord Redesdale
My Lords, if the service date is to be 2012—in the NAO report it was left blank—what role will the physical integrator take in risk management? Without firm targets on when the ships are to be in service, the risk management might well go out of control, as has happened in so many other projects.

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, under the alliance structure that we are setting up for this very large procurement, risk management and risks and rewards will be undertaken and accepted by all those who belong to the alliance. That will of course include the physical integrator, alongside the Ministry of Defence, BAe Systems and Thales. Anyone else who is a member of the alliance will be in the same position. I want to make it absolutely clear that the physical integrator will be part of the alliance.

§ The Lord Bishop of Portsmouth
My Lords, reluctant as I am to put the Minister on the spot at a sensitive time, may I none the less ask for reassurance on the importance of the issue not only for the Royal Navy but for the future of the shipbuilding industry in different and sometimes rival parts of the country?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, the right reverend Prelate never puts me on the spot, and it is always a sensitive time. We remain fully committed to the aircraft carrier programme, which represents a huge step up in military capability for our Armed Forces. The carriers will be the biggest and most powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. They will be built in the UK under a policy that the previous government and this Government have both adopted. That is very good news for British defence and, in particular, for the British shipbuilding industry.

§ Baroness Trumpington
My Lords, what is a physical integrator? Could I qualify to be one?

Noble Lords
Oh!

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, I told the House that the competition was ongoing. If the noble Baroness would 1333 like to put in a late bid, I am sure that she would stand a very good chance. I did my best to describe what a physical integrator was or should be to the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever; it looks like I did not totally succeed.

§ Lord Mayhew of Twysden
My Lords, are the Government absolutely committed to a particular size for the ships? If so, what is it?

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, we are not committed to an absolute size. If the noble and learned Lord will excuse the expression, size is not of the greatest importance here. What matters is the capability that the ships have to do the important job that we have determined they should do and which most people agree is critical for our future forces' structure. They will be the largest ships that we have ever constructed.

Lord Berkeley
My Lords, I presume that the physical integrator will make sure that the two halves of the ship fit together to the same size.

Noble Lords
Oh!

§ Lord Bach
My Lords, my noble friend has great expertise in the railway industry. Of course they will.