LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Britain's BAE Systems said on Friday it had agreed with the UK government that themanufacturing of eight new anti-submarine warships would startin the summer of 2017, adding that a final contract was stillbeing negotiated.
Europe's biggest defence contractor said in a statement thatthe Type 26 programme, the name given to the new combat shipswhich the government said last year it planned to buy, helped tosecure jobs at its shipbuilding facilities in Scotland.
Britain has to date invested 1.9 billion pounds ($2.4billion) in the new ships but has not yet signed a finalmanufacturing deal for the fleet of new ships. BAE's currentcontracts for design and initial supply chain work runs untilJune 2017.
According to some estimates, Britain is likely to spendabout 8 billion pounds on building the ships, but the finalvalue is not yet known.
"The UK government's commitment today will secure hundredsof high-skilled shipbuilding jobs on the Clyde for at least twodecades and hundreds more in the supply chain across Britain,"said British Defence Minister Michael Fallon, who visited theshipyard in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Friday. ($1 = 0.8007 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Gareth Jones)