Article Posted on : - Jan 18, 2010

Artist impression of Future Aircraft Carrier- The Queen Elizabeth Class. UK Navy Photo.

LONDON (BNS): The Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) has awarded Contracts worth £333 million to companies across the United Kingdom to help build the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers.

According to a news release by the UK Ministry Of Defence, the Aircraft Carrier Alliance is responsible for delivering the Queen Elizabeth Class ships to time and cost.

The team has also awarded five sub-contracts to suppliers from Glasgow to Portsmouth for equipment to be installed on the ships and services for their assembly, bringing the total value of sub-contracts awarded so far on the programme to almost £1.1 billion.

"The build phase of the carrier programme is now well underway. The first units have already been delivered to Rosyth where these ships - the cornerstone of the Royal Navy of the future - will be assembled," said Quentin Davies, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support, as reported in the release.

The Queen Elizabeth Class carriers will be the largest, most capable and powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. The ship has a displacement of about 65,000 tonnes and range of 8,000 to 10,000 nautical miles. It also has a capacity for 40 aircraft on-board.

The aircraft carriers are believed to be a highly versatile and potent joint defence asset, able to meet the widest range of tasks around the world throughout their expected service life of around 50 years.