BAE Systems trying to save UK shipyards, says FT

17th Jan 2012 09:35

The Financial Times is reporting that the defence giant, BAE Systems, may be trying to develop foreign contracts in order to keep British shipyards in work.The paper claims BAE is trying to convince Turkey and Brazil to let it build highly advanced ships for their navies at its yards in Glasgow and Portsmouth.The idea would be for foreign engineers to see how the ships are constructed and then take that expertise back to their own countries for future projects.Defence spending in the UK is being cut by 8% over the next four years as the government tries desperately to reduce the UK's budget deficit.Those cuts are forcing BAE to expand into new markets.Over the last 12 months shares in the company have dropped 12% although today the stock had gained 0.5% by 09:56.BS