THE successful adoption of plans by the nation's major shipbuilders to work together in the future would create thousands of new jobs in the south as the next generation of warships takes shape.

Hampshire-based VT Group is one of the players in a new strategy which will see it working alongside the likes of former rivals Swan Hunter Babcock BES and BAE Systems on the new ships.

The deal comes as part of BAE Systems' shipbuilding strategy for the future - presented to the Ministry of Defence.

This is potentially the deepest level of co-operation in the history of UK warship building and the first time the shipbuilding giants in the UK have worked together to produce a multi-yard build strategy and an integrated approach to deliver a programme of this nature.

Thousands of jobs could be created on the south coast and VT chief executive Paul Lester said, "Our partnership with BAE Systems is well established on the Type 45 programme. The Future Carriers provide a further opportunity to develop a long-term relationship. Their approach offers a highly effective solution for this programme, which is so vital for the future of warship building in the UK."

BAE says the co-operative approach results in a solution that will sustain significant shipbuilding jobs for the whole of the UK for years to come.

It has been devised to use and build on the existing skills and infrastructure to ensure both an excellent strategy for the Future Carriers, and a long-term solution that will leave the ship-building industry in better shape for future domestic and export markets.

The Future Carriers project focuses on the design and build of two carrier vessels that will form the heart of the UK's future force projection capability, to enter service in 2012 and 2015.

It will accommodate 600 crew and have a displacement of more than 50,000 tonnes with the project budget of almost £10 billion.