Boris Johnson today announced five new Royal Navy frigates will be build in the UK in an effort to "bring shipbuilding home".
The Prime Minister revealed that engineering giant Babcock is the preferred bidder for a £1.3 billion contract to build the new frigates, and the contract is expected to be awarded by the end of this year.
“The UK is an outward-looking island nation and we need a shipbuilding industry and Royal Navy that reflect the importance of the seas to our security and prosperity,” Mr Johnson said.
The Type 31s will be constructed in Rosyth Dockyard in Fife, creating more than 2,500 jobs across the UK. Manufacturing should start by 2021, and the new warships should be read to take to the waves by 2023.
Mr Johnson added:
"This is an industry with a deep and visceral connection to so many parts of the UK and to the union itself.
"My Government will do all it can to develop this aspect of our heritage and the men and women who make up its workforce - from apprentices embarking on a long career to those families who have worked in shipyards for generations.
"I look forward to the restoration of British influence and excellence across the world's oceans.
"I am convinced that by working together we will see a renaissance in this industry which is so a much part of our island story - so let's bring shipbuilding home."
The Prime Minister has appointed Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as the Government's new shipbuilding tsar to enhance the UK's production.
Mr Wallace said: "These mighty ships will form the next generation of the Royal Navy fleet.
"The Type 31 frigates will be a fast, agile and versatile warship, projecting power and influence across the globe.
"The ships will be vital to the Royal Navy's mission to keeping peace, providing life-saving humanitarian aid and safeguarding the economy across the world from the North Atlantic, to the Gulf, and in the Asia Pacific."
Back in July when tensions with Iran were at a high over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, then Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood told The Times:“If we are wanting to continue to play this influential role on the international stage it will require further funding for our armed forces, not least the Royal Navy.
“Our Royal Navy is too small to manage our interests across the globe.”
