- £135 million contract for cutting-edge launchers for
Royal Navy warships
- Decoy Launchers provide increased protection for vessels
against missile and drone threats, including in the Red Sea
- New contract will sustain up to 150 jobs in the South West to
help grow the economy.
UK security will be bolstered through a new contract worth £135
million that will equip the Royal Navy with new decoy launchers
to counter missile and drone threats, ensuring the long-term
availability and resilience of warships.
Following the signing of the new contract, Trainable Decoy
Launcher technology will increase the protection of Royal Navy
ships and sailors, further strengthening the Navy’s ability to
defend Britain’s interests across the world, including the Red
Sea.
It comes as new missile and drone technology creates greater
threats to the UK’s fleet and the latest decoy launchers will
help counter this, providing optimised manoeuvrability that
provides the capability to defend warships without the need to
alter course.
The innovative new system, which uses high-end technology, will
be manufactured in Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA)
site in North Devon and Chess’s facilities in Sussex, sustaining
up to 150 jobs to help grow the economy. Both SEA and Chess are
part of the UK-based Cohort plc group.
Minister for Defence Procurement, said:
In a time of global instability, it is vital we protect the Royal
Navy in the best possible way to ensure national security.
With recent attacks towards HMS Diamond and HMS Richmond in the
Red Sea, it’s crucial our sailors have the latest technology to
best defend themselves and the fleet.
The new Trainable Decoy Launcher technology is an improvement on
speed and agility and highlights more excellent work from UK
companies in backing UK defence.
The contract for the Trainable Decoy Launcher will see Type 26
and Type 31 frigates and Type 45 destroyers fitted with a new
trainable countermeasure launcher system.
Trainable Decoy Launchers use an improved decoy launcher
technology and enables a decoy to be rapidly deployed against
modern missile threats, without the need to manoeuvre the vessel
itself. The launcher fires a range of countermeasures, which
includes chaff, flares and ‘corner reflector’ rounds to target
hostile missiles.
The contract, procured by Defence Equipment & Support
(DE&S), was awarded to SEA and will see a fully UK-designed
and built solution. SEA have partnered with Chess Dynamics and
Frazer-Nash Consultancy (FNC) to deliver the product.
Richard Flitton, Managing Director of SEA
said:
Being awarded a contract of this nature demonstrates the Royal
Navy’s trust in SEA which is based on our proven track record of
delivering, upgrading, and sustaining high-end maritime
capabilities over many years.
The knowledge and maritime domain expertise within our UK-based
team has enabled our long-standing partnership with the Royal
Navy, and we’re delighted that this will allow us to support the
UK’s defensive capabilities against modern and complex naval
threats.
DE&S CEO, Andy Start said:
This contract is an excellent example of how dedicated DE&S
teams work with our partners in industry and across defence to
deliver innovative and agile equipment to our Armed Forces that
can be upgraded to keep pace with ever-evolving threats.
