South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering has won a contract to supply Britain's Royal Navy with four new tankers, the Ministry of Defence said Wednesday.

The deal to supply the 37,000-tonne tankers is worth 452 million pounds ($709 million, 535 million euros), the MoD said.

The Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers are due to enter service in 2016 and will replace models that date back to the 1970s.

They can simultaneously refuel an aircraft carrier and a destroyer while undertaking helicopter resupply of other vessels.

"They are designed to allow for upgrades and emerging technologies, meaning that they have been designed with the future in mind," said Commodore Bill Walworth, head of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

The tankers are more than 200 metres long and can pump enough fuel to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools in an hour.

The decision to award the tanker contract to a foreign firm sparked concerns about British defence jobs, particularly at a time when the government is slashing the military budget as it seeks to reduce the deficit.

"This is more bad news for British industry," said Jim Murphy, defence spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party.

"First we lose out to France over fast jets and now we lose out to South Korea over Royal Navy tankers," he said, referring to India's selection this month of the French Rafale fighter jet.