BAE Systems secures £70m warship contract

The two-and-a-half year deal means 100 engineering jobs will be maintained

BAE Systems has won a £70 million contract for the maintenance of Royal Navy warships at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The Ministry of Defence contract will protect 100 engineering roles at BAE Systems in Portsmouth and will run from July until November 2016.

The servicing and support of all the warships in the Daring-class is managed by the Type 45-class output management team. Comprising Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence and industry personnel, the team ensures the Type 45 ships are available to meet all Royal Navy requirements and manage capability upgrades, as well as the provision of spares and support worldwide. The team provides one point of contact for Type 45 personnel on board.

The six Daring-class Type 45 ships - HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, HMS Dragon, HMS Defender and HMS Duncan - are the largest and most powerful Air Defence Destroyers ever operated by the Royal Navy.

The warships feature the Sea Viper Anti-Air Missile System which ensures that the Type 45s can destroy incoming threats from the air, while the BAE Systems' built Sampson Multi-Function Radar can simultaneously detect and track more than 400 targets, providing a fully automatic operation where rapid reaction is required.  

BAE also services the Royal Navy's four River-class vessels under a £22 million contract awarded last year and services all Type 23 ships based at Portsmouth in addition to managing HM Portsmouth Naval Base for the Royal Navy.