Rolls Royce awarded 1 bn pounds UK submarine reactor contract
LONDON Rolls Royce, leading supplier of marine propulsion equipment, has secured a 1 billion pounds contract from the UK Ministry of Defense to supply reactor cores for the country's nuclear-armed submarine fleet.
The deal includes an 11-year refit of Rolls' submarine propulsion reactor factory in Derby, where the engine maker plans to introduce the latest technology and manufacturing techniques, the company said.
"This demonstrates the high level of trust the Ministry of Defence has in both our technology and the expertise of our highly skilled workforce," Jason Smith, Rolls-Royce's chief operating officer and submarines unit president said Monday.
Though the deal is expected to protect 300 jobs at the Rolls Royce factory and its suppliers elsewhere, the coalition partners in government are divided over plans to replace the country's four Vanguard submarines at an estimated cost of 25 billion pounds when they retire from service in the 2020s.
The money will be used to build two reactor cores. One will be used for the seventh Astute Class attack submarines that are nuclear-powered but not nuclear-armed.
The other reactor could be used for the first of the next generation of nuclear-armed submarines.
The Conservatives want a new fleet of submarines capable of carrying Vanguard's Trident missiles and maintaining Britain's independent nuclear capability.
The Liberal Democrats however, are pushing for cheaper and less potent alternatives, arguing that the current capability is an outdated hangover from the Cold War.
Britain took the first step towards renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system last month, when it awarded 350 million pounds worth of contracts to design a new generation of submarines.
Rolls-Royce will also complete a phased rebuild to provide a manufacturing facility to support future MoD programme needs.
"This is excellent news that demonstrates the high level of trust the Ministry of Defense has in both our technology and the expertise of our highly skilled workforce," said chief operating officer of the group's nuclear division Jason Smith.
Source: Britain News.Net
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