The Ministry of Defence has confirmed two senior appointments at the organisations tasked with delivering the Royal Navy’s next-generation aircraft carriers and its new Dreadnought Class submarines.
Vice Admiral Sir Simon Lister will become managing director of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, which is a joint venture between the MoD and industry that is building and fitting out HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
Lister has served as the Royal Navy’s chief naval engineer officer and will leave Defence Equipment & Support where he led the delivery of the maritime equipment programme and fleet support.
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He will replace outgoing ACA managing director Ian Booth who becomes the first chief executive of the new Submarine Delivery Agency, which is delivering the £31bn replacement submarines for the Navy’s current Vanguard Class vessels.
Defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon said Lister would bring knowledge of complex engineering projects and a background of leadership of major programmes.
“Following HMS Queen Elizabeth’s historic entry into Portsmouth, our focus is now on her final preparations for commissioning and the delivery of our second mighty carrier, HMS Prince of Wales,” he said.
“With his substantial experience, Admiral Lister is the logical choice to keep up that momentum.”
The MoD added that Booth had a “proven track record in delivering complex defence programmes” and would bring a wealth of public and private-sector experience to the SDA.
“In addition to his previous leadership of the ACA, Booth also previously ran the Typhoon airframe programme and was managing director of both the Astute Submarine programme at BAE Systems and the joint venture Fleet Support Ltd," it said.