The Royal Navy's two planned new aircraft carriers could be delayed while Britain's shipbuilding industry restructures, MPs have warned.
The Commons Defence Committee said that the Armed Forces could face a damaging "capability gap" if the new ships - which are due to replace the Navy's three existing carriers from 2013 - were late.
The Ministry of Defence's defence industrial strategy, published in 2005, called for a consolidation of the shipbuilding industry to adjust for an expected fall-off in demand after the carriers are built.
Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson has said that the order for the carriers would not be placed until the consolidation was in place, but the industry has yet to reach an agreement on the new structure.
The committee said: "It is possible, though not inevitable, that this may result in later delivery of the carriers. This in turn may lead to a capability gap which could be both damaging to the defence of the country and expensive to deal with".
It acknowledged however the restructuring, once it is in place, could also result in the carrier programme being better managed.
