GLOBAL FORCE PROJECTION With the award of the first equipment contracts, the Royal Navy’s new Global Combat Ship programme is right on course.
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his August BAE Systems announced the award of the first equipment manufacturing contracts for the Type 26 Global Combat Ships, worth in excess of £170m. With the contracts awarded to seven companies in the supply chain, there are now more than 1250 people across the UK working on the programme to deliver the Royal Navy’s next generation warships.
12 Industry Europe
The contracts, awarded from the Demonstration Phase contract funding, cover key equipment such as propulsion, communications and electrical systems for the first three ships. The commitment to long lead items keeps the programme on track and means the equipment will be delivered to Glasgow at the point it is needed in the ship’s manufacturing phase, which is expected to begin
next year. The contracts include the creation of onshore testing facilities to test the equipment prior to installation on the ships. The contracts are awarded to: • Babcock for the ship’s air weapons handling system • David Brown Gear Systems Ltd for the propulsion gearbox and the test facility • GE Power Conversion for the electric propulsion motor and drive system and testing facility • Raytheon for the integrated navigation and bridge system • Rolls Royce Power Engineering for the gas turbine • Rohde & Schwarz UK Ltd for the communications systems • WR Davis for the uptakes and downtakes BAE Systems has also confirmed a subcontract to its Combat Systems team for the Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) system, which collates and analyses environmental information to support operations. Geoff Searle, Type 26 Programme Director at BAE Systems, said: “Today’s announcement is exciting for everyone involved in the Type 26 programme, as it
