§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Mr. Adam Ingram)Further to the Statement to the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 30 January 2003,Official Report, columns 1026–42, I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Defence has agreed contracts with BAE SYSTEMS (BAES) and Thales United Kingdom for the third stage of the Assessment Phase for the Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) programme. This stage will be used to increase the maturity of the carrier design, and will pave the way for 45WS placing contracts for the demonstration and manufacture (D&M) phase in Spring 2004 The work will be managed by a single, integrated team staffed by BAES and Thales UK.
Since the end of January, progress has been maintained in developing the design of the warship. In parallel, positive discussions have been conducted with BAE SYSTEMS and Thales UK on how to take forward the alliance approach to the programme set out by the Secretary of State in January. Discussions will continue between all three parties to refine the precise terms of the Alliance and the D&M contract, and will complete early next year. These discussions will be conducted concurrently with the Stage 3 design work, and will place the Department in a strong position to proceed quickly to place the D&M contract expected in Spring 2004.