Shipbuilding

Lord Spicer Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, is quite right that long-term planning is needed. This is why the national shipbuilding strategy, which is chaired by Sir John Parker, is looking at putting warship building on a sustainable, long-term footing and building a new complex warship on a regular basis— I am told the term is “regular drumbeat of production”. However, at the moment, our order book for the construction of warships is full for the foreseeable future with the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. We are third in the world behind the USA and Japan when it comes to tonnage under construction.

[Lord Spicer (Con)]

My Lords, are we sure that we have enough escort ships for the two carriers?

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord is possibly referring to the Type 26 warship. At the moment, as for bringing that into construction, we are extending the life of the Type 23, which will ensure that the Royal Navy continues to have a quality anti-submarine capability until the Type 26 enters service—new radar and missiles, improved sonar systems, upgraded boats, improved command and control systems, and more efficient power generation equipment.