Naval shipbuilding strategy which threatens BAE's monopoly is 'destined for the scrapheap'

Dr Peter Roberts, director of military sciences at the influential defence think-tank, said: “Ending BAE’s monopoly might seem a lovely idea for industry but very few companies are willing to take on as difficult a customer as the Ministry of Defence, which changes its mind all the time as warfare changes. “Others say that it might take only five years from concept to delivery of a mega cruise ship but two decades for a Navy ship and think that speed could be applied to the military. These are very complex vessels and few companies can commit to those long timeframes.”