 BAE's yards are manufacturing sections of the carriers |
A project management contract for two Royal Navy aircraft carriers, currently under construction in Scotland, is likely to be handed to a US firm. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to confirm that Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), part of the Halliburton group, will oversee the project.
Sections of the massive carriers are expected to be built at BAE's Govan and Scotstoun yards on the Clyde.
These will be assembled later at Babcock's dockyard at Rosyth, in Fife.
Valuable contracts
It is thought the MoD has turned to KBR because of huge cost overruns in recent defence procurement programmes, among them the Eurofighter.
The two 950ft long, 60,000-tonne carriers will be the biggest British warships ever built.
They will cost about �4bn each but the value of the work is likely to rise to �10bn when maintenance and support is added.
Under the deal, BAE systems and the French company Thales will design and build the ships in sections at yards on the Clyde, Tyneside and the south coast of England.
These will then be floated to Rosyth where KBR will oversee their assembly.
Unions' response
Union convenors at the Clyde shipyards are seeking more detail from the goverment about the contract.
Shop stewards say they are concerned that the company has no shipbuilding experience and are demanding more detail on how work will be allocated to the different yards.
BAE employs more than 2,000 people on Clydeside and an estimated 6,500 in Scotland overall.
BBC Scotland's political staff say the contract is regarded as vital to the company and in the run-up to an expected election, will have huge political importance.
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