Engineering firms clinch warship contracts

Type 26 will replace existing Type 22 and 23 frigates in navy

BAE Systems has announced new design contracts for the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, which will play a vital role in the programme to deliver the Royal Navy’s next generation surface warship – if the manufacturing of the vessel is rubber-stamped by the Ministry of Defence later this year.

The defence giant said it had awarded six design development agreements covering key areas such as propulsion; ventilation and electrical equipment; and combat and navigation systems. The design contracts have been awarded to Babcock for the ship’s air weapons handling system; French firm DCNS for work on the vessel’s propulsion shaftlines; GE Energy Power Conversion for the electric propulsion motor and drive system; Holland's Imtech for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and low voltage electrical equipment; Raytheon to develop the integrated navigation and bridge systems; and Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions for the ship’s fixed firefighting Systems. Initial design agreements for the ship's systems had already been awarded to Rolls-Royce, MTU, David Brown Systems, and Rohde & Schwarz.

Geoff Searle, Type 26 global combat ship programme director at BAE Systems, told PE that a total of 25 agreements would be placed this year and that a significant proportion of tendering was taking place on the part of companies that were either British or had bases in the UK.

He said: “By the 2030s, the Type 26 will be the backbone of UK’s surface fleet and a strong industrial base is essential to sustaining this naval capability. Our partners and suppliers play a key role in this, as we work together to further develop the detailed design of the ship’s systems and equipment to enable us to deliver 13 highly capable, affordable and supportable Type 26 ships for the Royal Navy. “With UK suppliers expected to account for around 80% of this significant programme, Type 26 will support thousands of skilled UK jobs in BAE Systems and across the whole supply chain. We look forward to welcoming more suppliers into the Type 26 team in the coming months.”

A team of more than 650 people from across BAE Systems and industry is working with the MoD on the engineering of the ship and to prepare proposals to be submitted later this year. The team aims to secure a manufacturing contract that will “sustain this long-term national capability by the end of 2014”. Under current plans, 13 Type 26 ships will be delivered to the Royal Navy, with manufacturing in Glasgow at BAE's Scotstoun yard scheduled to start in 2016. The first vessel is due to enter service as soon as possible after 2020 and the Type 26 class is projected to remain in service until 2060. The Type 26 Global Combat Ship is designed for anti-submarine missions, which means it has a very quiet mode of operation, and other roles, from high-intensity warfare to humanitarian assistance, either operating independently or as part of a task group.