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The government has launched an inquiry into defence procurement after the extent of engine and propulsion problems plaguing the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers was revealed.
The Type 45 destroyer is fitted with an integrated electric propulsion (IEP) system that powers everything onboard. This system has been reported to have left the ships vulnerable to total electrical failures, leaving them without propulsion or weapons systems during operation.
The destroyer’s Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines have also been unable to operate in extreme temperatures in the Persian Gulf because of problems with their intercooler units. Diesel generators will be fitted to rectify the situation. This planned work follows numerous repairs to improve the propulsion system which have been carried out as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Project Napier.
Retired Royal Navy officer Sir Mark Stanhope told the defence select committee of MPs that the decision to specify the IEP was sensible “at the time”, owing to evidence it would reduce maintenance and improve fuel usage and survivability.
However, Peter Roberts, senior research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute, said the decision was flawed. “It was a poor innovation approach.”
John Hudson, managing director at BAE Systems, said the problems with the WR-21 gas turbines had been detected as early as 2005, but the MoD continued with its decision to use them on the Type 45s.
Defence Equipment and Support, part of the MoD, said that an assessment of measures to improve the destroyers’ propulsion system was ongoing. No completion date or final budget has yet been set on the repair work.
It is feared that the repairs will have knock-on effects on the construction of the new Type 26 frigates. Douglas Chapman, convenor at trade union Unite, said that cutting steel on the Type 26, set to begin this year, is now expected to be delayed until early 2018.