BATH — The world has been turned upside down for defense contractors with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the “New World Order.” But there is cause for optimism for Bath Iron Works.

The company is the leader in building Aegis destroyers, high-tech warships that have high value because of their versatility in an era in which the military must deal with hot spots around the world.

A $2.4 billion backlog of work gives the company some time to gear up for commercial ventures to supplement Navy contracts, said President Duane Fitzgerald.

The destroyers have computerized weapons systems that allow them to track hundreds of targets simultaneously. They’re also the first vessels in the world built to withstand a chemical or biological attack.

“Aegis destroyers are pretty well protected. The money is going to come out of submarines and aircraft carriers,” said Mark Bobbi, a defense analyst for Forecast International.

While concentrating on the core business, the shipyard is in the process of becoming leaner so it will be in a position to take advantage of commercial ventures down the road, Fitzgerald said.

Although the reduction from a peak of 12,000 workers at the shipyard’s peak to 8,000 workers next year hurts, it’s still the highest peacetime work force at the shipyard since the turn of the century, Fitzgerald says.

Other factors also point in BIW’s favor. Pay scales in competing shipbuilding countries such as Japan, Germany and South Korea are rising and in some cases surpassing pay scales in the United States.

That means U.S. shipyards can compete if President Clinton pushes those countries to eliminate subsidies that put their shipbuilders at a cost advantage.

“If you level the playing field, Bath can compete with anyone in the world,” Bobbi says.