Britain's French-Designed Aircraft Carriers Risk Cost Blowout
- BAE, Babcock, Thales shipbuilding group says costs a challenge
- 6.2 billion-pound target still attainable, government says
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The joint venture that is building two aircraft carriers for the U.K.’s Royal Navy is fighting to meet a 6.2 billion pound ($9.1 billion) budget after unexpected costs emerged, group officials said.
The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of the two carriers under construction in Rosyth, Scotland, is on schedule to begin harbor trials next year and fleet operations in 2020, the shipbuilders said during a reporters’ tour.