BAE Systems has been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to provide service support for the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers, which are based at HM Portsmouth Naval Base.
Under the £70m contract, the company will support, maintain and upgrade the destroyers.
UK Defence Equipment, Support and Technology Minister Philip Dunne said the latest agreement will protect the skills of around 100 expert engineers, and bolster the future of Portsmouth’s ship-support industry.
"Our Type 45 destroyers are the largest and most powerful ships the navy has ever had, featuring state-of-the-art equipment and weapons systems," Dunne said.
"It is essential that the ships receive top class support and Portsmouth has the skills needed to do this."
The Type 45 class-output management (COM) team based at Portsmouth has also been managing the service and support of the Daring-class warships.
Work under the latest contract is due to start in July and run until late November 2016.
BAE currently services the navy’s four River-class vessels and Type 23 vessels based at Portsmouth, in addition to overseeing the management of the base.
Designed and built by BAE Systems, the six Daring-class Type 45 ships include HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, HMS Dragon, HMS Defender and HMS Duncan. These are claimed to be the largest air-defence destroyers operated by the navy
Constructed to support peace-keeping and high-intensity warfare, the vessels can also support global maritime and joint operations in multi-threat environments.
Image: BAE will provide maintenance services for Royal Navy vessels at HM Portsmouth Naval Base.. Photo: courtesy of BAE Systems.
