So, now that the two CVFs are 99.9% certain, now that 6 MARS fleet tankers look well on their way to approval and build, now that finally the UK shipbuilding industry is consolidated in BVT Surface Shipbuilding Ltd., now that the C-series are moving along to initial gate, is the Royal Navy looking ahead to better times?
Let's see what we've got in terms of future procurement:
2 CVFs - check
6 T45s ----> chances for the 7th and 8th T45? The Tories seem to think they aren't cancelled yet and the MoD continues to talk of them as if they were planned?
4 Astutes ---> numbers 5,6,7 rather certain (long lead items ordered iirc), what about an 8th?
3 - 4 Vanguard (R)s ---> 3 or 4?
6 MARS Tankers ---> likely to go ahead fast so that the single hulled tankers can be replaced
C1/C2/C3 ---> an article a while ago said that this is going to inital gate in late 2008
The Times has often been talking about a minimum workload for BVT, apparently one major surface warship every year, so:
2008: CVF 1 | built around the UK
2009: CVF 2 (ordered in 2008 but counted as 2009) & MARS tankers | built around the UK & MARS built in South Korea | MARS not part of core workload
2010: T45 7 (if these are ordered in 2008, will production still be pretty seamless or not?) | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2011: T45 8 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2012: C1 1 (replacing the T22s with an ISD around 2017) | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2013: C1 2 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2014: C1 3 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2015: C1 4 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2016: C2 1 (starting to replace the T23s with an ISD of 2020) | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2017: C2 2 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2018: C2 3 | Not part of the minimum workload 18 x C 3 production starting from 2018 to replace 16 MCMVs, 4 Clydes/Rivers and 2 Echos to be built in Portsmouth
2019: C2 4 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2020: C2 5 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2021: C2 6 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2022: C2 7 | Glasgow and Portsmouth
2023: C2 8 | Glasgow and Portsmouth Astut
Submarines:
2008: Astute 4 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2009: -
2010: Astute 5 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2011: -
2012: Astute 6 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2013: -
2014: Astute 7 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2015: -
2016: Astute 8 full contract or Vanguard (R) 1 full contract (ISD 2024) | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2017: -
2018: Vanguard (R) 1 or 2 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2019: -
2020: Vanguard (R) 2 or 3 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2021: -
2022: Vanguard (R) 3 or 4 full contract | built in Barrow-in-Furness
2023: -
2024: - Vanguard (R) 4 or new SSN class (ISD: 2032) | built in Barrow-in-Furness
Okay, rip it apart.

