BAE to slash almost 1,000 jobs amid fears £5.2bn super aircraft carriers may be axed

The Daily Mail, UK ^ | 9th September 2010 | Ian Drury

[sukhoi-30mki]

BAE to slash almost 1,000 jobs amid fears £5.2bn super aircraft carriers may be axed

By Ian Drury

on 9th September 2010

Defence giant BAE Systems is planned to axe almost 1,000 jobs as it copes with the inevitable cuts inflicted by the Government's spending review.

Shocked union chiefs warned the move could be the 'tip of the iceberg' amid fears the Royal Navy's two £5.2billion aircraft carriers to be ditched to cut costs.

The Ministry of Defence has asked BAE in the past week to look at the financial implications of scrapping one or both of the 65,000-ton replacement warships.

The defence giant - part of a consortium building the ships - was instructed to look at options including 'one carrier or no carriers', its chief executive, Ian King, said.

The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions warned that the review will mean 'worrying prospects' for the defence industry.

Cancelled? An artist impression of the front of one of the new super aircraft carriers which could be scrapped in an attempt to cut costs

Mr King made the revelation while giving evidence to the House of Commons' defence select committee yesterday.

because if we cancel the orders without considering the skills base we could completely lose the UK's entire shipbuilding industry.

'That would do huge damage to the economy and our standing as one of the world's leading maritime nations.'

An MoD spokesman said: 'The Defence Secretary has made clear that tough decisions will need to be made but the complex process of a Strategic Defence and Security Review will be concluded in the autumn.

'Speculation at this stage about its outcome is entirely unfounded.'

[LibLieSlayer]

communist economic policies, national non-health care and sharia law will do that to a great Empire.

LLS

[Old Teufel Hunden]

For an island nation that depends on shipping I would say this is not very smart. Unless they’re going to start renting out our Navy. They need to start cutting their social welfare largese. We need to take a look at what’s going on with them. We’re heading down the same road.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

One other thing, how do they expect to protect the Falklands with a deteriorating Navy? The best way to avoid war is to prepare for war. They are courting a confrontation with Argentina...

[SanFranDan]

Great initial and thought provoking comments of this one once great nation.

But I’m sure if I cared to read what ABCMSNDNC thoughts were on this issue, it would be for the dawg bozo to follow the Brits lead, as it would lead to “Peace in our time.”

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Great initial and thought provoking comments of this one once great nation."

Thanks. I think with a change in attitude towards their social welfare state and a subsequent change in leadership they could get back to being that great nation of former times. It saddens me to see them fall off the pedastool of what they once were.

We're going down the same path unfortunately. I'm hoping that what Obama has wrought though is a re-awakening of the American spirit. When we look back on the Obama presidency years from now, it may turn out to be the best thing to shock the American people senses. If McCain would have been president, we would have continued to be put to sleep by a slow creep towards socialism...

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

In 1982, the garrison consisted of 20 Royal Marines with light weapons. It now consists of 1,000 troops, 4 Eurofighters, Rapier AAA batteries, helicopters, support aircraft, at least one warship on rotation and a river class patrol boat permanently stationed there, plus a highly trained militia force (FIDF) and the strategic capability to airlift in thousands of reinforcements at short notice if tensions were to rise. Not to mention the fact that Tomohawk Armed SSNs gives the British military a conventional deep strike capability that it simply did not have in 1982. Meanwhile, the Argie military forces have stagnated and they are less capable of mounting the kind of operation they did 28 years ago in absolute terms, never mind relative... They could send the entire Argentine Airforce in all its hopelessly obsolescent glory against the Falklands and Faith, Hope and Charity could knock them all out of the sky whilst the pilot of Desperation sat about in the NAAFI bar at Mount Pleasent and had a brew....

That Falklands Islands has nothing to fear from the economically illiterate Argentines for the foreseeable future...

[Vanders9]

Easier said than done. The real problem with extensive social programs is that once they are in place, it becomes incredibly difficult to shift them if needed. As it is now, with money getting tight. People get used to their "bread and circuses", and they can vote, and there are a lot of them. As in the US, the liberals are, in effect, creating their own electorate.

The financial problems are such that either the carriers or the Trident successor project are going to get the axe. My personal hope is that it is successor. The carrier project is further along, replacements for the existing vessels are more pressing, odds are they are going to be more important in the future, and the people who run successor are .... well I cant say on a family-friendly board like FR, but lets say I dont like them very much.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"That Falklands Islands has nothing to fear from the economically illiterate Argentines for the foreseeable future..."

That's good to know. Still it would be in Britian's interest to put more money into maintaining their Navy than their welfare programs IMO... I hope they roll out their new carriers.