Babcock preferred bidder to support Royal Navy carriers

Babcock International Group, a supplier of support services to the armed forces, has been selected as a preferred bidder for a Ministry of Defence programme worth about £360m over seven years.

If selected, Babcock will become the marine systems support partner for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers.

The FTSE 100 company will also become the systems technical authority for the platform and propulsion systems on both classes of vessel, subject to the support of key partners.

It will manage the technical configuration of the systems, obsolescence issues, work with the equipment suppliers to develop system upgrades, and supply spares and in-service support to mitigate the risks to maritime equipment availability from routine maintenance and in-service failures.

This news comes after Babcock recently won a seven year, £70m contract from the Ministry of Defence for six maritime equipment consumables packages.

The company said the recent contract win and being considered for a second has come off the back of investment in a dedicated equipment management operations centre at the its marine facilities in Bristol.

Babcock chief executive Archie Bethel said: "Our selection as the MoD and Royal Navy's partner for marine systems support partner and maritime equipment consumables represents a real vote of confidence in our capabilities and performance as the Royal Navy's key support partner.”