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New OPVs for UK Royal Navy amid restructuring

7th November 2013 - 09:17 GMT | by Tim Fish in London

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Three new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) will be ordered by the UK MoD to plug the gap in construction work at BAE Systems’ shipbuilding facilities in Glasgow.

In a statement issued on 6 November, the secretary of state for defence, Philip Hammond said that under a Terms of Business Agreement (ToBA) signed in 2009, the cost of the ships would amount to less than £100 million more than it would have to pay the company anyway to keep its facilities idle whilst adding an additional capability for the Royal Navy (RN).

Hammond said that the three new ships will be

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