Type 45 Destroyer

HC Deb 21 May 2004 vol 421 c1255W

Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress on the Type 45 destroyer programme. [174251]

Mr. Ingram

The Type 45 will be the biggest and most capable class of air defence destroyers ever built for the Royal Navy, and will be equipped to carry out a range of tasks. Six ships are on order with the prime contractor BAE Systems, providing stability for the shipbuilding work force on the Clyde, and at the new VT facility at Portsmouth, for the remainder of the decade. The programme is in full production against a mature design, a first for a UK warship project at this stage of its development.