Portsmouth: BAE Systems reports sales growth as naval base upgrade continues

BAE Systems, which employs 4,000 people in maritime services in Portsmouth, Cowes, Chelmsford and Bristol, as well as its naval ships businesses co-located in Portsmouth, has reported sales up to £19 billion from £17.9b the previous year.

The company reported: "Excellent progress continued on the upgrade to the northern corner of Portsmouth Naval Base, which BAE Systems is contributing to along with a number of partners as part of a £100m MOD investment ahead of the two Queen Elizabeth (QE) Class aircraft carriers arriving in Portsmouth."

Defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon officially opened Ark Royal personnel reception building, renovated as part of the infrastructure work, in November.

Other highlights in its 2016 report included:

During 2016 HMS Brocklesby, a Hunt Class mine countermeasure vessel, was moved into the ship hall at Portsmouth Naval Base for a major upkeep. HMS Quorn has also been moved into the ship hall in readiness for her upkeep during 2017.  The use of the ship hall will make a significant contribution to reducing the time taken to complete upkeep work.

• In December, BAE Systens was awarded the £61m Intelligent Bridging Contract to maintain the fleet of six Type 45 Destroyers at home and around the world.
• Technology developed and funded by a consortium led by BAE Systems which can monitor the equipment, fuel and energy performance of a ship in real-time during deployments has been installed on HMS Dragon.
• In November, a project team completed the multi-million pound installation of the Sea-Ceptor missile system into HMS Westminster
• Progress continues on the £270m Spearfish torpedo upgrade demonstration and manufacture phases, with the demonstration phase currently forecast to complete in 2019.
• In January 2016, production of 60 Pacific 24 Mark IV Rigid Inflatable Boats for the UK Ministry of Defence began. The boats are SOLAS rescue craft and will be used on Royal Navy warships, including the new QE Class aircraft carriers
• BAE Systems successfully demonstrated unmanned boat technology and a bespoke transportable command and control system in the unmanned warrior naval exercise, a large-scale demonstration of innovative maritime robotic systems, hosted by the Royal Navy off the coasts of Scotland and West Wales
• BAE secured a 10.5-year contract extension for skilled combat systems engineers to provide the Royal Navy with combat systems integration services to both in-service and future platforms, including Type 45 destroyers, the new QE Class aircraft carriers, and the Type 26 frigate programme.
• In May, the Skills Development Centre on Portsmouth Naval Base reopened after a £2.7m investment. It provides on-site training to BAE Systems employees and Royal Navy personnel as well as our apprentices and from SMEs in the local area.
• BAE's early careers training programmes in 2016 saw 49 apprentices, 19 graduates, eight graduate placements and seven interns.

David Mitchard, managing director at BAE Systems Maritime Services, said: “In a year when the focus has been on the work to ready Portsmouth Naval Base for the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth we have continued to make good progress across all our programmes.

“The year ahead will be hugely exciting for our employees and the Royal Navy as we welcome HMS Queen Elizabeth to her home port. We are also working hard to continue to deliver cost savings to our customer under our contract to support more than half of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet and to provide outstanding facilities and warship support services at Portsmouth Naval Base.”