The announcement on job cuts at BAE's shipbuilding yards on the Clyde and the south coast of England is now expected to be made on Wednesday morning.
It is understood shipbuilding at Portsmouth will stop.
The company may cut more than 1,000 jobs in total between Portsmouth and at Govan and Scotstoun in Glasgow.
It is understood Govan will not close. An announcement had originally been due on Thursday.
The job losses are expected to result from a reduction in work following the completion of two aircraft carriers.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said: "I understand the announcement on job cuts at BAE's shipbuilding yards is likely to be brought forward to this morning."
'Political football'The defence secretary will make a statement in the Commons if the announcement is made.
Union leaders have said they will hold talks with BAE Systems early next week.
Some of the jobs being lost may be offset by a contract to build the new Type 26 Global Combat Ship.
But BAE Systems has yet to announce which of its UK shipyards will be chosen to carry out the work.
A well-placed source has told the BBC the government was "acutely conscious of the politics of the Clyde" ahead of next year's referendum on Scottish independence.
But the Scottish secretary of the GMB union, Harry Donaldson, said any decision should be based on economic rather than political grounds.
End Quote Gerald Vernon-Jackson Portsmouth CouncilI'm very concerned that with a potential independence vote in Scotland, if Portsmouth shipbuilding is shut down, what would remain of the UK would have no ability to build advanced warships"
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: "To be perfectly frank I think it is disgraceful that politicians are getting into looking at these yards as a political football.
"It needs to be about communities, it needs to be about people and it needs to be about what is best for Scotland and the rest of the UK as a maritime nation.
"I just hope that the politicians can get their act together, think of the future, think of safeguarding jobs and investing in getting these Type 26 orders forward for order fulfilment so we can make a smooth transition.
"We may well lose some jobs in the interim, but keeping these yards open, that is the major issue, so people can get the opportunity to come back into employment".
He called on the government to bring forward the Type 26 orders in order to create a transitional phase, because: "If you lose the jobs then you lose the skills and the problem is you will lose the ability to then compete in a very competitive marketplace".
The leader of Portsmouth council, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, questioned why a decision was being taken before the Scottish independence referendum next year.
He told the BBC's Today programme: "Portsmouth is the last place in England that has the ability to build advanced warships for the Royal Navy and I'm very concerned that with a potential independence vote in Scotland, if Portsmouth shipbuilding is shut down, what would remain of the UK would have no ability to build advanced warships.
A well-placed source told me that the government was "acutely conscious of the politics of the Clyde" ahead of next year's Scottish Independence referendum"
"We're an island nation. We depend on sea trade for the food we eat, for the fuel in our cars, for the gas in our central heating systems, and the Royal Navy has never brought ships from abroad.
"It would just mean either that that would have to change and the Royal Navy would have to buy ships from France or Germany - or we'd have to spend a huge amount of public money re-employing people, re-skilling people here in Portsmouth".
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the announcement by BAE Systems would be followed by a Commons statement from the defence secretary later on Thursday.
The job losses would result from the completion of work on the building of the two aircraft carriers and from a huge increase in the costs of that project, he added.
It emerged on Monday that the UK government was planning to announce that it will need to spend an extra £800m on the carriers, taking the total costs to more than £6bn - double the original estimate.
Beyond the carriers there are currently no new orders on the books of BAE's Glasgow yards at Govan and Scotstoun.
Any job losses, however, may not take effect immediately because some work on the aircraft carriers is planned until 2015.
The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions said it would hold talks with senior BAE Systems executives early next week to "examine the business case" of the forthcoming announcement on jobs.
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Govan workers: "We don't know what will happen"
There are currently 3,200 people employed by BAE across Govan and Scotstoun, and 1,200 employed in shipbuilding at Portsmouth.
BAE launched a review of its defence work 18 months ago.
A BAE spokeswoman said: "We continue to work closely with the Ministry of Defence to explore all possible options to determine how best to sustain the capability to deliver complex warships in the UK in the future.
"This work is ongoing and we are committed to keeping our employees and trade unions informed as it progresses."
The Scottish government said it has been in dialogue for some time with BAE Systems over the future of the Clyde shipyards.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "very worrying time" and the workforce at both the Govan and the Scotstoun yards deserved to know what the future held.
"Scotland is a maritime nation. If you look at countries similar to Scotland, like Norway, they have got much bigger shipbuilding industries than we do so there's no reason why both of these yards shouldn't have a secure, long-term future," she said.
The Scotland Secretary Alistair Carmichael has said speculation about the number of jobs likely to be lost was "really unhelpful for the people whose jobs could be concerned and the communities that are most directly affected."
Shadow defence minister Vernon Coaker called on the government to give "urgent clarification" on the future of the shipyards and dismissed accusations that Labour was responsible for the overspend incurred in building the two aircraft carriers.
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