Today's defence related news includes a £48 million contract for new Royal Navy workboats and further coverage of HMS Queen Elizabeth taking part in exercises alongside USS George HW Bush off Scotland.
£48million contract for next generation Royal Navy workboats
The Press Association, Daily Telegraph and regional media, including the Dorset Echo, report on the contract announcement which will see marine technology group Atlas Elektronik supply up to 38 workboats for the Royal Navy, to be built near Dorchester. With Britain’s flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth Carrier set to enter her new home in Portsmouth in under two weeks time, tasks to be carried out by the boats will include transferring personnel to and from both of the UK’s carriers.
Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin said:
From the south coast to the banks of the Clyde, British shipbuilding is ensuring that our growing Navy has the reach it needs to protect our interests around the globe. These cutting-edge workboats will support the likes of our iconic new aircraft carriers and the Type 26 frigates, as well as sustaining 60 British jobs. This is another step in our £178 billion plan to provide our Armed Forces with the very best equipment to keep our country safe.
Exercise Saxon Warrior
The Mail Online and Press Association continue coverage of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s participation in Exercise Saxon Warrior with the US, including interviews with senior naval personnel and the Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster. This follows yesterday's coverage in Mail Online and The Evening Standard which included images of HMS Queen Elizabeth alongside the US aircraft carrier USS George H W Bush.
Captain Jerry Kyd, HMS Queen Elizabeth's Commanding Officer, said:
The USS George HW Bush battle group is an awesome embodiment of maritime power projection.
And given that the United Kingdom's Carrier Strike Group Commander and his staff are embedded on board, the US carrier for Saxon Warrior shows the closeness of our relationship with the US Navy and the importance that both nations place on the delivery of the UK's Carrier Strike programme.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is at the start of her journey to generate to full warfighting capability, but we are working hard to ready ourselves to take our place in operations and the line of battle alongside our closest allies.
Image of the day
