MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Threat detection systems on Royal Navy warships upgraded

More than 200 UK jobs will be supported through a new contract to boost the Royal Navy’s warship combat systems and increase their ability to track, analyse and respond to threats in combat.  

The contract, worth £285 million, has been awarded to BAE Systems, to maintain and modernise vital combat management systems (CMS) on Royal Navy vessels, including Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers, Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and Type 26 frigates.

Such systems provide warship crews with all the information they need to track, analyse and respond to threats in combat. The contract will support hundreds of jobs across the UK delivering on the government’s Plan for Change. 

Minister 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 an 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.

The project, dubbed RECODE (Real-time Combat System Open Data Enablers), will sustain more than 200 highly skilled UK jobs at BAE Systems in Filton, Dorchester, New Malden, Frimley and Portsmouth. It will also create additional investment in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech suppliers across the UK.  

The CMS is the primary method for Royal Navy operators to interact with weapons and sensors. The system supports operators in their Decide and Enable functions by providing a range of tools including:  

• Situation awareness.
• Tactical picture compilation.
• Threat evaluation and weapon assignment.
• Navigation and blind pilotage.
• Weapon direction and control.

The upgrades announcement comes just a week after the Royal Navy was tracking a Russian spy ship, Yantar, in British waters. The Royal Navy was able to follow its every move before the Russian ship left for the Mediterranean waters.  Crucial upgrades such as RECODE will further improve the Royal Navy’s crucial deterrence capabilities.  

This builds on the strategic aims of the Government’s upcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, aligning national security with a high-growth economy to support the Plan for Change.   

The combat management systems provide Royal Navy crews with essential situational awareness and operational capabilities. The new contract builds on 25 years of BAE Systems’ combat management expertise supporting the Royal Navy.  

The Government is developing a full Defence Industrial Strategy, which the Defence Secretary launched in December, to ensure Defence is an engine for UK growth.