Trident subs to be built with French steel

FRENCH steel will be used to make the hulls of the new British fleet of nuclear submarines, it has emerged.

The Ministry of Defence said it handed the contract, worth tens of millions of pounds, to a French firm because British steel is not tough enough for the job.

But as work on the £31billion project started in Cumbria yesterday, critics infuriated by the revelation said it showed the Government commitment to support the struggling British steel industry was ‘not worth the paper it is written on’.

The MoD said it was forced to offer the contract for the submarines – which will replace the Vanguard class – to an overseas company because there was ‘no viable’ offer from a British company to make the incredibly tough grade of steel required for the submarine’s ‘pressure hull’.

This is the giant inner tube beneath the outer shell of the submarine which contains the living quarters, engines and 16 Trident nuclear missiles for the 15,900 tonne vessels.

This was echoed by BAE Systems, which will build the four submarines at its Barrowin-Furness yard and ultimately took the decision to hand the deal to French firm Industeel. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon told Channel 4 News last night: ‘There wasn’t a British bid for that particular type of steel.

‘But let me reassure you, 85 per cent of these boats, the contents of these submarines, will be built here in Britain.

‘The British companies didn’t tender for that particular type of steel, but there will be plenty of British content in these submarines.’

However, experts yesterday disputed claims that no British firm is capable of making the steel required for the submarines.

Tata Steel is thought to have launched a failed bid to manufacture it in Britain but was rebuffed by the Government.

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said yesterday: ‘This news makes clear that the Government’s much-vaunted new procurement guidelines aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.’

He added: ‘MPs, unions, the workforce and steel companies have been calling on the Government to open up a dialogue with the industry so that they can plan and produce the appropriate grades and quantities of steel to meet future demand.’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘We source British steel where possible but there was no viable UK bid for this part of the build because no British firm produces the specialised steel needed.

‘We are in an early stage of the programme but there will be British steel in the new submarines and further opportunities for UK suppliers to bid.’