BAE Systems awarded UK Type 45 Destroyers contract

The UK's Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a £70 million contract to manage the support, maintenance and upgrade of the Type 45 Destroyers at Portsmouth Naval Base and on all their operations in the UK and globally.

The contract is due to commence in July 2014 and run until the end of November 2016.

The contract underlines capability in servicing and upgrading the Royal Navy's fleet.

The Company currently services the Royal Navy's four River Class Vessels under a £22M contract awarded last year and services all Type 23 ships based at Portsmouth in addition to managing HM Portsmouth Naval Base for the Royal Navy.

The six Daring Class Type 45 ships - HMS Daring, HMS Dauntless, HMS Diamond, HMS Dragon, HMS Defender and HMS Duncan, are the largest and most powerful Air Defence Destroyers ever operated by the Royal Navy.

Designed and built by BAE Systems, the ships were designed to take into consideration future engineering, maintenance and upgrade requirements thus ensuring their longevity.