BAE Systems Setting Up Aircraft Carriers' Support Center

BAE Systems is setting up a new center to facilitate new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The centre which is nearing completing will house employees of Team Portsmouth, a partnership between the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems, with engineers, logisticians and waterfront staff working alongside each other to plan and deliver the maintenance for these ships, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Mike Howarth, Managing Director for BAE Systems Maritime Services in Portsmouth, said: “At 65,000 tonnes the new carriers are the largest and most complex naval ships built in the UK. It’s essential that they have high quality facilities and highly skilled people to support them.”

The Queen Elizabeth Class Centre of Specialisation will cover an area of 70,000 square metres – approximately the size of 10 football pitches.  It will include a 7,000 square metre Forward Support Centre able to hold 15,000 pallets of medical, mail and naval stores under one roof, a café seating more than 500 people at any one time and a reception centre for all those working on or visiting the carriers.

“This centre will be the home not just for the carriers; it will also be home for the military and civilian people who support them. With improvements to the jetty and construction of a high voltage power station already in its final stages, you can now see that we are well on the way to being ready for HMS Queen Elizabeth’s arrival next year.”