The package includes twelve V32/44CR propulsion engines, six L32/44CR generator sets, MAN SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) for each engine, three twin-screw Alpha CP propellers, and plant auxiliaries.

It will contribute “to some key requirements of the FSS ships essential for naval applications such as shock resistance; cyber security; nuclear, biological, chemical; Integrated Logistic Support; efficiency; low-emissions and reliability,” the German engine manufacturer stated.

“Navantia UK and our partners in Team Resolute for the FSS programme are proud to partner MAN in order to provide world class propulsion technology for the FSS vessels,” FSS Liaison Programme Manager at Navantia UK Jose Luis Viguera said.

Fleet Solid Support

Harland & Wolff and BMT Group are the other two partners of the consortium building the vessels under a 1.6-billion-pound ($1.97 billion) contract awarded by the UK government.

BMT is providing naval design, while Harland & Wolff and Navantia are building the vessels, with the first vessel expected to be delivered by 2028 and the last within four years afterward.

A support ship replenishes items on naval vessels required to sustain large-scale naval operations far away from home such as ammunition, spare parts, replacement jet engines, food, and provisions.

“Navantia is a highly reputable and important partner for navies around the world and we are proud to be chosen to participate in this significant FSS programme for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary,” Head of Sales, Navy at MAN Energy Solutions Andreas Junginger said.

The post MAN Propulsion to Power Royal Navy’s Fleet Support Ships appeared first on The Defense Post.

The four-year Sting Ray Mid Life Upgrade assessment phase includes design and development, prototype construction, and in-water trials. 

It will upgrade the in-service Sting Ray Mod 1 to the Mod 2 version, featuring technological upgrades and additional deployment options to counter emerging threats.

“The Sting Ray torpedo remains at the heart of anti-submarine warfare,” Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Maritime Services Scott Jamieson said.

“It’s a huge sign of confidence for the company to be entering the next phase of development and be able to demonstrate its additional capabilities. 

“This contract is vitally important to the UK’s strategic underwater defense plans and an important step in the advancement of our capability for decades to come.”

Sting Ray Torpedo

The Mod 1 has been operational since 2001 and is capable of countering fast, deep-diving submarines as well as quiet, conventional submarines operating in coastal waters. 

It is an upgrade on the Mod 0, which entered service in 1983.

Both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force employ the torpedo, with the latter selecting it in 2023 as its future torpedo capability, along with continued use of the United States Navy’s Mk54.

“The Stingray Mid Life Upgrade Programme will enhance the UK’s lightweight torpedo, significantly improving the anti-submarine warfare capabilities delivered by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force,” Deputy Director Weapons Operating Centre at Defence Equipment & Support, Cdre Richard Harris, said.

“This programme is an essential part of the daily mission that protects the nuclear deterrent and our undersea cables.”

To Support Local Jobs, Boost Economy

The award will support more than 80 highly skilled engineering jobs at BAE Systems’ Maritime Services business in Portsmouth and sustain around 20 specialist manufacturing jobs at BAE Systems’ site in Hillend, Scotland.

It will also generate further investment into the UK supply chain of small to medium enterprises and high-tech suppliers across the South of England.

The post BAE Systems to Upgrade Royal Navy Sting Ray Torpedo  appeared first on The Defense Post.

Held in Govan, the ceremony saw the HMS Cardiff (F 89) enter water for the first time as part of its construction process awarded to the company in July 2017.

It involved the transport of the vessel from BAE’s shipyard to a deep-water area where it was submerged and to the company’s Scotstoun center for additional integrations and testing before commissioning.

“HMS Cardiff entering the water for the first time is a significant milestone for everyone involved in her delivery across our programme,” BAE Systems Type 26 Program Director David Shepherd stated.

“It is an incredibly complex operation, involving months of planning and hundreds of skilled and dedicated people. I’m proud of them all.”

“We now look forward to the next phase of her build, outfitting and installing the complex systems that will bring her to life.”

UK Type 26 Program

London’s Type 26 program is an effort to employ modern surface combatants against evolving underwater and aerial threats.

The fleet’s lead ship, the HMS Glasgow (F 88), completed its float-out in November 2022, just weeks after the UK announced a $4.9-billion investment in five additional City vessels.

Outfitting of the Glasgow is now underway in Scotstoun, while the construction of the third and fourth hulls (the Belfast and Birmingham) is ongoing in Govan.

Once operational, the eight planned City-class systems will replace the Royal Navy’s 13 Type 23 Duke frigates in service since the 1980s.

The Glasgow is scheduled to join the British fleet in 2028.

The City-Class Frigate

The UK’s City vessel measures 149.9 meters (491.7 feet) long and can accommodate more than 150 personnel.

It will be equipped with torpedoes, anti-ship, anti-air, and cruise missiles, counter-watercraft automated weapons, naval guns, and heavy machine guns.

The warship has a flight deck and hangar to carry helicopters such as the Merlin, Wildcat, or Chinook systems, as well as facilities for unmanned aerial systems.

The vessel will be powered by combined diesel-electric and gas engines for a range of 7,000 nautical miles (12,964 kilometers/8055 miles) and speeds over 26 knots (48 kilometers/30 miles per hour).

The post BAE Systems Completes Second British City Frigate Float-Out appeared first on The Defense Post.

Five MBHSs will be delivered under the contract awarded by lead contractor BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited, with delivery of the first system scheduled for this summer.

Manufacturing will take place at Rolls-Royce’s Canadian Naval Handling Centre of Excellence in Peterborough, Ontario.

The company was earlier contracted for three MBHSs for the program’s Batch 1.

“This is a huge win for Rolls-Royce in Canada and our team in Peterborough,” Programme Executive – Naval Handling Systems for Rolls-Royce Defence Jessica Banks said.

“Our Mission Bay Handling System is perfectly designed for modern naval operations, providing adaptable and flexible integration solutions suitable for a wide range of activities.”

Construction of all eight City-class vessels is expected to be completed by the mid-2030s, with the first ship, HMS Glasgow, entering service by the end of 2028.

Mission Bay Handling System

The Mission Bay Handling System helps move containerized mission modules on an open ship deck or inside a mission bay without the aid of a dockside crane.

Its hydraulic boom enables safe and efficient deployment and recovery of manned/unmanned surface vessels from both sides of the ship, even in challenging sea conditions up to sea state 6.

“We have a superb piece of equipment unique to the UK Royal Navy that will significantly strengthen our capability,” Ian Brown of UK’s Defence Equipment and Support said.

“There has been a lot of effort and collaboration and the network this has brought together has been invaluable. I look forward to the future of installing and working on HMS Glasgow, then handing it over to the Navy to prove its full capabilities and functionality.”

The post Rolls-Royce to Deliver Mission Bay Handling Systems for UK’s Type 26 Frigates appeared first on The Defense Post.

The maiden sea acceptance trial from the Vanguard-class vessel certifies the weapon’s deployability with the second nuclear-powered class of Royal Navy submarines after the Astute.

It involved engaging both surface and submerged targets, allowing the crew to operate the weapon, test-firing it with the vessel’s combat system, and ensuring command and control.

“These firings continue to be a major step in ensuring the Royal Navy’s Spearfish torpedoes remain ready to face the latest threats, with cutting edge technology at the forefront of the weapon’s success,” Commodore Chris Goodsell said.

Upgraded Spearfish

The Spearfish has been the Royal Navy’s primary anti-submarine and anti-surface torpedo for three decades, capable of neutralizing hostile submarines, frigates, destroyers, and large warships.

Its improved variant, the Spearfish Mod 1, features a “new warhead, a safer fuel system, a smarter electronic ‘brain’ and a fiber-optic guidance link with its parent submarine to improve its accuracy and lethality.”

The navy plans to transition its existing Spearfish into the improved version by 2025.

The post Royal Navy Tests Upgraded Spearfish Torpedo on Vanguard Nuclear Sub appeared first on The Defense Post.

Announced on the sidelines of the Farnborough International Airshow 2024, the contract has a total value of 176 million pounds ($227 million).

According to the ministry, the weapon is expected to bolster the British Army’s short-range air defense and the Royal Navy’s anti-surface warfare capabilities.

“Now more than ever, we need to ensure the UK Armed Forces and our allies are fully equipped to defeat the evolving global threats we face,” UK MoD procurement arm chief Andy Start said. “This order with Thales UK is a key element of that collective effort.”

Armed with Martlet missiles, a Wildcat helicopter from @RNASYeovilton flies around a range off the coast of Wales ready for the trials. The missile system will be on the Wildcats that deploy next year with @HMSQNLZ's carrier strike group

https://t.co/Ic3ixlV6Ft pic.twitter.com/XjQC9pTrS5

— Royal Navy (@RoyalNavy) May 24, 2020

The multi-role missiles will be produced at Thales’ facility in Belfast, supporting 135 jobs and the local supply chain.

Once delivered, they will be used on Stormer combat vehicles and Wildcat helicopters.

‘A Precision Solution’

Also known as the Martlet, the Lightweight Multirole Missile is designed to neutralize a wide range of conventional and asymmetric threats.

It is described as a precision solution that significantly reduces collateral damage and optimizes air defense operations.

Weighing only 13 kilograms (28.6 pounds), it boasts an operational range of six kilometers (3.7 miles) and a maximum speed of Mach 1.5.

According to Thales, the Martlet has been proven effective in engaging various targets, from drones, helicopters, and swarming fast attack craft to enemy armored vehicles.

Replenishing Stockpiles

The company did not provide the exact number of missiles ordered to avoid revealing sensitive information about UK stockpiles.

However, it said the munitions are meant to replenish supplies after Britain donated “hundreds” of the weapon to Ukraine.

“In a more dangerous world, we must continue to provide weapons to Ukraine but also replenish our own stocks,” British defense procurement minister Maria Eagle said.

The Ukrainian military has been using the lightweight missiles from the frontlines to fend off invading Russian forces.

The post UK Orders Lightweight Multirole Missiles From Thales appeared first on The Defense Post.

Project Vahana is a 48-million-pound ($61-million) initiative to employ 35 new vessels for maritime operations, training, driver support, surveillance, and minehunting.

Dorset-based Atlas Elektronik received the contract to build the ships in 2017. Integrations involved remote and autonomous capabilities to sustain operational efficiency without personnel at the helm, as well as standardized hulls for mission flexibility.

Since their induction, the ships have operated with different naval vessels as well as local British ports. They have also replaced workboats produced in the 1990s that had reached the end of service life.

“The acquisition of Vahana craft has played an important step in the modernisation of a range of operational and enabling capabilities across the UK Defence maritime operating environment,” Royal Navy Fleet Navigating Officer Cdr. Peter Ware commented on Project Vahana’s finalization.

“They will provide an important platform upon which we can continue to build towards further integration of autonomous systems and delivery of effect in remote environments.”

Atlas Elektronik has supported approximately 60 jobs throughout the course of the project.

Adaptable Fleet

British Sea-class workboats measure between 11 and 15 meters (36 to 49.3 feet). The fleet’s largest, the HMS Magpie, measures 18 meters (59 feet).

Each system under the class is powered by twin waterjets for a top speed of 25 knots (46 kilometers/29 miles per hour).

Depending on the variant, the Vahana ships are fitted with multiple berths, contain accommodations for up to 36 personnel, and carry unmanned underwater systems such as the Remus and SeaCat drones.

“We are immensely proud to have delivered a range of 35 SEA Class vessels including HMS Magpie, with interchangeable capability modules, allowing the Royal Navy to rapidly reconfigure them for different operational roles,” Atlas Elektronik UK Surface Ship Systems Division Head Wesley Galliver said.

“Through this commonality, the training, spares and documentation burden for all systems has been significantly reduced.”

“A further strength of the SEA Class range is that it is fully compatible with AEUK’s autonomy engine enabling an unmanned capability when the need arises in the future.”

The post ThyssenKrupp Subsidiary Completes Royal Navy Sea-Class Workboat Project appeared first on The Defense Post.

The system will provide uninterrupted navigation to the class of five future general purpose frigates, even in Global Navigation Satellite System-denied environments.

Developed by iXblue, the INS features passive fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG) technology that uses light to calculate motion.

“The FOG technology does not involve any movement of mechanical parts causing dithers, vibrations, frictions, and resulting in parts’ weariness and noise,” iXblue explained.

“This ensures many benefits for the user: acoustic stealth, robustness of the system (Power-on and Forget), cost-effectiveness, and the lowest cost-of-ownership on the market.”

Trusted Supplier

Several Royal Navy vessels are already equipped with Exail navigation solutions, including Astute-class nuclear attack submarines, Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, Duke-class frigates, and Vanguard-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

The Type T31 is intended to replace the five general-purpose Type 23 frigates, starting in the late 2020s.

“We take great pride in contributing to the Royal Navy’s mission success through the supply of our Marins INS for the T31 frigates,” regional sales director at Exail Jens Higgen said.

“This contract underlines the quality and reliability of Exail navigation systems, which are maintenance-free and fully meet the stringent military requirements of the most modern combat ships.”

The post Exail to Supply Inertial Navigation to Royal Navy Frigates appeared first on The Defense Post.

The first-time drill is part of NATO’s annual exercise to affirm its members’ interoperability in protecting the region.

During the exercise, the British Coastal Forces Squadron sailed the fourth and seventh Archer ships, HMS Pursuer (P273) and HMS Puncher (P291), to the Gulf of Riga in Latvia to test their expeditionary mine hunting kits for overseas missions.

The vessels were assisted by the Scotland-based Mine and Threat Exploitation Group and their IVER 3 autonomous underwater drone, which projected a live feed of the seabed as it scanned for potential mines.

The countermeasure trials concluded with the team surveying 620,000 square meters (6,673,624 square feet) of an area that was heavily planted with explosives in both World Wars.

The Royal Navy wrote that this “historic” field still has 80,000 mines and other unexploded remnants on the seabed.

“It is a great pleasure to be invited to take part in Baltops as it provides an excellent opportunity to share ideas and develop new ways of working with NATO allies,” Royal Navy Coastal Forces Squadron Cdr. Richard Skelton remarked.

“This year has had the added bonus of successfully deploying a minehunting capability from the platform and being able to clear a significant area of historic ordnance.”

As Red Team, Salvage Support

Meanwhile, the Royal Navy deployed additional Archer patrol vessels to the Stockholm Archipelago to assist in training the Swedish and Dutch navies in confined waters.

This separate NATO preparation saw the lead Archer ship (P264) HMS Ranger (P293) and the HMS Example (P165) take the role of a “red team” or simulated enemy crafts against the participants’ larger warships.

The fleet was also used in coordination with Lithuanian patrol vessels and a US aircraft to support an American Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape team who practiced the extraction of downed aircrew.

“We are very happy with what we have achieved on Baltops this year, and it has sparked plenty of ideas for future iterations and how we continue to develop the utility and operational output of the P2000 as a platform,” HMS Archer Commanding Officer Lt. Jack Patterson stated.

“Our units continue to prove their versatility in a range of environments.”

UK’s Archer Patrol Boat

The British Archer patrol boat is the smallest of the Royal Navy fleet. Alongside active security, the ship is utilized for training applications across the service.

The vessel measures 20.8 meters (68.3 feet) long and has a beam of 5.8 meters (19 feet).

It is powered by a diesel engine for speeds up to 25 knots (46 kilometers/29 miles per hour) and a range of 550 nautical miles (633 miles/1,020 kilometers).

The system can carry more than 15 personnel and is armed with autocannons and machine guns.

The post British Archer Patrol Ships Conduct Autonomous Mine-Hunting in Baltics appeared first on The Defense Post.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported 16,140 full-time personnel quit the armed forces in the past 12 months, while only 10,680 enlisted.

Of those who left, more than half were considered early retirement.

According to Labour Party shadow defense secretary John Healey, the numbers reflect a concerning “failure” in defense.

He pointed to poor living conditions and eroding troop morale as the main reasons behind the falling retention rate.

“It’s time for change with Labour. We will ensure Britain is better defended,” he told The Telegraph.

Military Housing Issues

According to a recent Labour analysis, more than 2,000 military homes have been branded by the UK MoD as “non-decent.”

The figures account for more than four percent of all British military houses, the highest since 2017.

Common issues include broken boilers, black mold, leaky roofs, and endless waits for repairs.

Because of these housing problems, one-third of all British military personnel are said to be living in low-quality accommodation.

Record Low

Recent data revealed that the current strength of the British military is 183,130 — a decrease of more than 7,000 or four percent from last year.

The figures remain the lowest since the Napoleonic wars in 1815.

The ongoing recruitment and retention crises have aggravated concerns that the UK military may be too small to survive a full-scale war.

The post More People Quit British Military Than Signed Up Last Year: Data appeared first on The Defense Post.