BAE wins £20bn Australian warship contract

British defence company BAE Systems has been awarded a multi-billion pound contract to build nine new warships for the Australian Navy.

The Australian government has signed a £20bn contract with BAE to build the new frigates, “based on the Type 26 design BAE is building for the Royal Navy”, the BBC reports.

The deal, the UK’s largest in a decade, “looks set to strengthen defence ties between Canberra and Westminster with less than a year to go before Britain formally quits the EU”, says The Times.

The ships are set to be built in Adelaide, South Australia, using a number of components that are manufactured in the UK, and are due to begin entering service in the late 2020s.

Theresa May said the contract would be an “enormous boost” for the UK economy, adding: “The sheer scale and nature of this contract puts the UK at the very forefront of maritime design and engineering.” 

BAE “saw off competition from Spain’s Navantia and Italy’s Fincantieri to win the deal”, says The Guardian.