§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when an announcement will be made on the award of the through-life maintenance contract for the two aircraft carriers to be built under the CVF programme. [114520]
§ Mr. IngramThe current intention for CVF is to include an option for an Initial Support Period for the carriers, of approximately six years, as part of the main build contract, which is due to be awarded in spring 2004. This will be dependent on the development of a sufficiently mature and acceptable proposal by the CVF alliance.
§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the allocation of work on the CVF programme between the UK shipyards will be announced. [114521]
§ Mr. IngramAn initial proposal on the allocation of work will be submitted by BAE Systems and Thales UK at the end of this year as part of their offer for the Demonstration and Manufacture (D&M) phase.782W This proposal will be subject to value for money considerations. We aim to place a D&M contract by spring 2004.