Thales signs Royal Navy electronic warfare support contract

Thales UK has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence to provide an innovative support solution for electronic warfare (EW) equipment fitted to the Royal Navy's warship and submarine fleets. And to optimise coherency and efficient delivery of support, Thales UK's naval and aerospace businesses have joined forces for the enhanced contract. The new EW agreement is an enhancement to Thales UK's existing and highly success­ful contractor logistics support (CLS) contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide in-service solutions to all of the Royal Navy's major sonar systems. The enhancement now means that Thales is providing a combined sonar and EW warfare support service to the Royal Navy's frontline fleet. These include Invincible-class aircraft carriers, Type 23 and Type 22 frigates, and Type 42 destroyers. It also includes all classes of submarines. Future potential EW support options include the Type 45 destroyers and the Astute-class submarines. The programme will be managed by a combined MoD and industry team to be based in Abbey Wood in Bristol. Additional teams are based at the Portsmouth, Devonport and Faslane naval bases. The teams will concentrate on reacting to operational defects, managing obsolescence and the two-way flow of repairable stocks. It also provides expertise at the waterfront in the UK and overseas to deal with availability issues as they arise. In describing the expanded service, Victor Chavez, Deputy CEO Thales UK, says: "In contracting for the enhanced CLS service, the MoD has recognised the innovative approach that Thales UK brings to warship support by drawing together different parts of our business. The fact that the contract concerns different MoD Project Teams is also a significant step towards a comprehensive through-life capability management approach."