.
The 1,200 workforce at Portsmouth Naval Base are currently building ships for export to Trinidad and Tobago as well as Oman, but they now have at least five more years of job security.
Worker Danny Mitchell 22, from Crossfell Walk, Fareham said: 'This is fantastic, I like working here and getting the carriers will give us a chance to progress.
'I want to stay with the company because it is rewarding to be putting together bits of the Navy ships which will see service for decades.'
Work on HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will start in autumn next year once the contracts for the type 45 destroyers and the export work have been completed – expected to happen in about a month.
VT Shipbuilding's managing director Francis Paonessa said: 'The government has been consistent in saying the carriers would be placed and it is great to have confirmation of that.
'It is fantastic news and has given us encouragement for the future.'