Havant MP Alan Mak has praised the role of two local businesses involved in the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier project during a visit to the Rosyth dockyard in Scotland on 19 November 2015 as one vessel nears completion.
Mak visited Britain's two new aircraft carriers as construction of the first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth is due to end early next year. Mak praised Havant-based businesses Lockheed Martin and Wartsila for their role in Britain's largest ever Royal Navy project.
HMS Queen Elizabeth will be joined by her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales as the two new flagships for the Navy and will be based in Portsmouth when completed.
Mak visited the Rosyth dockyard near Fife in Scotland as part of his year-long “work experience placement” with the Royal Navy which he is undertaking alongside his MP duties.
Both carriers will be home to the new F35B joint striker fighter jets, built by Lockheed Martin, which has a large site at Langstone Technology Park next to Mak’s constituency office. The diesel generators powering both vessels will be supplied by Wartsila, a marine engineering business based on Brockhampton Way in central Havant.
The two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, which will weigh 65,000 tonnes each, will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships ever constructed for the Royal Navy and will represent a step change in capability – delivering strategic effect and influence around the world.
Both carriers will operate the F35B Lightning jet, one of the most modern combat aircraft in the world and the successor to the old Sea Harriers, which served so well in the Falkland conflicts in 1982.
The carriers are being constructed in parts and assembled the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, a consortium of engineering companies, in the Rosyth dockyard. BAE Systems has contributed to construction at its Portsmouth dockyard.
Alan Mak MP said, “Britain’s two new aircraft carriers are outstanding, impressive ships and they will play a key role at the heart of the Royal Navy for decades to come, protecting our interests at home and abroad.”
Mak added, “I’m proud that two Havant-based businesses, Lockheed Martin and Wartsila, are playing such important roles. Our area is renowned for its engineering and manufacturing prowess, and Havant’s involvement in the new aircraft carrier project is something all residents who be proud of.”