More than 200 UK jobs will be supported through a new contract to
boost the Royal Navy's warship combat systems and increase their
ability to track, analyse and respond to threats in
combat.
The contract, worth £285 million, has been awarded to BAE
Systems, to maintain and modernise vital combat management
systems (CMS) on Royal Navy vessels, including Type 23 frigates,
Type 45 destroyers, Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and
Type 26 frigates.
Such systems provide warship crews with all the information they
need to track, analyse and respond to threats in combat. The
contract will support hundreds of jobs across the
UK delivering on the government's Plan for Change.
Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, MP said:
This significant investment in our industry is another example of
how our Government is making defence an engine for
growth.
We are strengthening the UK's defences while supporting growth,
with hundreds of high-skilled jobs, to help deliver on our Plan
for Change.
By working with British industry we're ensuring our Royal Navy
has the advanced technology it needs while strengthening our
domestic defence industrial base.
The project, dubbed RECODE (Real-time Combat System Open Data
Enablers), will sustain more than 200 highly skilled UK jobs at
BAE Systems in Filton, Dorchester, New Malden, Frimley and
Portsmouth. It will also create additional investment in Small
Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech suppliers across the
UK.
The CMS is the primary method for Royal Navy operators to
interact with weapons and sensors. The system supports operators
in their Decide and Enable functions by providing a range of
tools including:
- Situation awareness.
- Tactical picture compilation.
- Threat evaluation and weapon assignment.
- Navigation and blind pilotage.
- Weapon direction and control.
The upgrades announcement comes just a week after the Royal Navy
was tracking a Russian spy ship, Yantar, in British waters.
The Royal Navy was able to follow its every move before the
Russian ship left for the Mediterranean
waters. Crucial upgrades such as RECODE will further
improve the Royal Navy's crucial deterrence capabilities.
This builds on the strategic aims of the Government's upcoming
Defence Industrial Strategy, aligning national security with a
high-growth economy to support the Plan for
Change.
The combat management systems provide Royal Navy crews with
essential situational awareness and operational capabilities. The
new contract builds on 25 years of BAE Systems' combat management
expertise supporting the Royal Navy.
The Government is developing a full Defence Industrial Strategy,
which the Defence Secretary launched in December, to ensure
Defence is an engine for UK growth.