Engineering news
The Ministry of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems a £44 million contract for radars for more than 60 Royal Navy ships, submarines and shore facilities.
Over the next five years, the MOD’s Navigation Radar Programme will replace existing radars fitted across the fleet and shore facilities with solid-state SharpEye radar transceivers designed and developed in the UK by Kelvin Hughes in Enfield North London.
The radars will be fitted to the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates, Hunt and Sandown class Mine Counter Measure Vessels, Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels, fast patrol boats, as well as the Astute, Trafalgar and Vanguard class submarines.
The contract also includes options for the introduction of the navigation radars to future Royal Navy platforms such as the Queen Elizabeth Carriers, the Type 26 Global Combat Ship, and Successor submarines.
Five shore facilities will also benefit from the new technology, which provides a collision avoidance system. This includes equipment for training at HMS Collingwood, in Hampshire, HMS Raleigh, in Cornwall, and at the Land Based Test Site at Portsdown Technology Park in Hampshire.
Steve Hyde, head of maritime combat systems at the MOD’s Defence, Equipment and Support Organisation, said: “This contract will see new radars that use the latest technology rolled out across the entire Royal Navy fleet, providing a reliable, technically capable and easy to maintain system that will give our Navy the extra confidence they need when serving on operations.”
The contract with Lockheed Martin will cover the demonstration, manufacture and in-service support for the system. It will sustain 14 jobs at Lockheed Martin’s Havant facility and create five additional roles in the company.