Royal Navy threat systems updated

The Royal Navy’s warship combat systems are being upgraded to increase their ability to track, analyse, and respond to threats in combat. 

A £285 million contract, that will support more than 200 UK jobs, has been awarded to BAE Systems to maintain and modernise vital combat management systems (CMS) on Royal Navy Vessels, from Type 45 destroyers to Type 26 frigates.

These systems will equip fleets with additional intelligence, giving them the capabilities to track, analyse, and respond to threats in combat. 

Minster for defence procurement and industry, Maria Eagle MP said: “This significant investment in our industry is another example of how our government is making defence and 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.”

Project Real-time Combat System Open Data Enablers (RECODE) will deliver over 200 highly skilled jobs across Filton, Dorchester, New Malden, Frimley, and Portsmouth, as well as encouraging further investment in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech suppliers nationwide.

As CMS is the main method that Royal Navy operators use to interact with weapons and sensors, the upgrades are welcome as they will provide a range of tools such as situation awareness, threat evaluation and weapon assignment, navigation and blind pilotage, as well as weapon direction and control.

These upgrades come just a week after the Royal Navy tracked a Russian spy ship, Yantar, in the English Channel, before it left for Mediterranean waters. Upgrades like RECODE will further boost the Royal Navy’s deterrence capacities.