Type 45 Destroyers

HC Deb 24 January 2000 vol 343 c53W

22. Dr. Godman

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when contracts will be signed with United Kingdom shipyards for the construction of Type 45 destroyers and other vessels for the Royal Navy. [104556]

Mr. Kilfoyle

We plan to place the order for the First-of-Class Type 45 destroyer with the Prime Contractor by the end of this year with the intention that it be built at the Marconi Marine (YSL) Ltd. yard on the Clyde. Decisions have still to be taken on the timing for follow-on Type 45 vessels but current planning assumptions are for a class of 12 ships to enter service between 2007 and 2014.

Contracts for other RN shipbuilding programmes, of which there are many over the next 10–15 years, will be signed at the appropriate point of the procurement process.