British future carrier program faces rising procurement costs

Sea Power, Sep 2003

Various press reports of mid-July 2003 indicate that the cost of the Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) for the Royal Navy continues to skyrocket. Apparently, BAE Systems, one of two companies (the other being France's Thales) reported to the Ministry of Defence that it would cost up to $6.5 billion for two aircraft carriers vs. the $4.5 billion estimated in January 2003. In January, the British Ministry of Defence announced that BAE Systems and Thales would design and build two aircraft carriers, based on the Thales design, for about $4.5 billion in a project that would employ around 10,000 people in Britain alone.

However, it now seems that the two firms may have severely underestimated the cost of building two aircraft carriers that were expected to displace between 40,000 and 50,000 tons, carry up to 40 aircraft, and be delivered in 2012 and 2015. It must be noted that BAE Systems and the British Ministry of Defence are both playing down the emerging press reports; they insist the program is still being assessed to determine the optimal balance of performance, time and costs, and delivery dates.