U.K. MOD has awarded $543 million contract for building Elizabeth class aircraft carriers

Contracts worth £333M ($543 million) have been awarded by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance (ACA) to companies across the country to help to build the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. Five sub-contracts have been awarded to suppliers from Glasgow to Portsmouth for equipment to be installed on the ships and services for their assembly, bringing the total value of sub-contracts awarded so far on the programme to almost £1.1bn. These contracts and sub-contracts represent the vast majority of the equipment orders for the Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers and demonstrate the progress made on the programme to date. The two future aircraft carriers will form the cornerstone of the UK's naval capability and will be the largest, most capable and powerful warships ever constructed in the UK. They will be a highly versatile and potent joint defence asset, able to meet the widest range of tasks around the world throughout their expected service life of around 50 years. Sub-contracts have been awarded by the ACA to: -- Imtech Marine & Offshore Ltd in Billingham, Teesside and Portsmouth for heating, ventilation and air conditioning, worth £120M. -- Ship Support Services Ltd based near Rosyth for paint and scaffolding for the build process, worth £105M (SSS Ltd is a joint venture formed between Pyeroy in Gateshead and Cape in Wakefield). -- Henry Abrams in Glasgow for transport of sections of the ship from the yards across the UK to Rosyth for final assembly, worth £85M. -- Tyco in Manchester for fixed fire fighting systems, worth £15M. -- AEI Cables in Birtley, Co Durham for much of the 2,500 km of cabling to be installed, worth £8M.