BAE awarded more MoD contracts

[newswatcher]

From the Daily Telegraph(19/12):

"BAE Systems was awarded two contracts totalling £80m with the Ministry of Defence yesterday despite the current row over the Nimrod and Astute contracts. The two contracts are dwarfed by the £4.8 billion Nimrod and Astute deals which have caused the company so much trouble. But the announcements were seen as an attempt to show that it is business as usual.

BAE will be paid £70m to help service Harrier jets operated by the Royal Navy and RAF over the next 10 years and will enable the forces to make swift alterations to the aircraft should defence needs change. The company has also won a £10m contract to replace Ministry of Defence manuals and files with an online web-based system.

The contracts come as BAE continues to meet investors and analysts to convince them there are unlikely to be any further shocks after the news the two key contracts were running significantly over cost and behind schedule.

Management are also due to meet Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, tomorrow to talk about the order for two aircraft carriers, due to be awarded next year.

He will meet them in his role as MP for Dunfermline East where work would be carried out. The shares rose 5.25 to 122.25p."

[Training Risky]

Doesn't 2 Jags's constituency include a BWoS plant at Brough, near Hull? Where Hawks are assembled?

I wonder if that place will close?

[Mad (Flt) Scientist]

Prescott is Hull East, I think - Brough is about 10 miles West of Hull. It is (or was a few years ago) in a Tory constituency - Beverley and East Yorks (?).

Since BWoS announced another 450 layoffs there a couple of weeks ago, which when implemented will bring the workforce under 2,000, compared with about 5,000 5 years ago, I have to say that the answer to your question
I wonder if that place will close?
looks horribly like "yes".:(

[Compass Call]

With reference to the Bae. Nimrod contract, I have read that Bae. have found that the new wings do not fit - surprise, surprise! When FRA started the project several years ago they were told by some of their "Old Hands" that the aircraft were 'handmade' and as such the new wings would have to be individually tailored to fit each fuselage. The Bae. reps were also given this info but Bae. obviously did not listen and if FRA passed on this info as well Bae. did not listen to them either. The Bae. reps were heard to say that the Comet was built on an assembly line and thus everything must be interchangeable. Personally I would far rather listen to an experienced specialist than an inexperienced exspert. Now the taxpayer will have to pay for an exspert decision.

EXSPERT - EX, has been; SPERT, drip under pressure.

[jockspice]

Does this contract for ten years mean that the powers have seen the sense to retain the SHAR until its successor can take its place, or does it mean that the SHAR will still go, the Fleet will have no fighter cover but we will have very serviceable GR7s doing a job they weren't designed for?:rolleyes:

Eternal optimist mode {off}

[Background Noise]

I may be a bit slow here but can someone explain how BAE getting a contract "will enable the forces to make swift alterations to the aircraft should defence needs change."?

The next bit would be great if we had the PCs/workstations to read the damn things ("The company has also won a £10m contract to replace Ministry of Defence manuals and files with an online web-based system"). On my sqn we still have PCs with windows 3.1 and we only have 2 with internet access - and they're in the boss' and xo's offices - access for all as usual. (oh, and the CD roms are all disabled)

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Does this contract for ten years mean that the powers have seen the sense to retain the SHAR until its successor can take its place.....

If only.......:(