Thales to Conduct Warship Reactivation Programme for Lithuanian Minehunters

Thales UKs naval business has been awarded the prime contractorship in a new warship reactivation programme following an agreement between the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Lithuanian Government. The Hunt-class vessels - HMS Cottesmore and HMS Dulverton - were converted in 1997 by the Royal Navy from their original use as minehunters into patrol vessels. The vessels were later declared surplus to requirements and put on the MoD list for disposal in 2004. In 2006 Thales UK approached the MoD and offered to use its international marketing and sales expertise to help find a country that was interested in purchasing the ships for use in their original minehunting role. This approach led to detailed discussions with the Lithuanian Navy to upgrade the vessels with a technologically advanced minehunting system. The ship-regeneration package represents an innovative departure for Thales UK, building on the naval architecture and engineering expertise already established in the company to support the design work on CVF, the Royal Navy's Future Aircraft Carrier. The design approach has been agreed with the MoD and Lithuania, and Thales is now actively engaged in the selection procedure for the various subcontracts involved in the programme. This will include fitting the new hull-mounted Sonar 2193 system, propulsion, command and control systems, and mine disposal systems. The ships are expected to enter service with the Lithuanian Navy by 2011. Ed Lowe, Managing Director of Thales UK's naval business, says: "This is a challenging but exciting project and, as a result of this work, these two ships will be upgraded with state-of-the-art minehunting technology that will enable the Lithuanian Navy to play an important role in future NATO operations.