"Expert" Gosport firm to fit Royal Navy Type 26 ships with advanced communications tech securing 200 jobs
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Sophisticated technology developed in Gosport will be fitted to new Royal Navy frigates.
The City-class Type 26 ships will see advanced and reliable communications systems installed on them. With plans in place to use the submarine-hunting warships in the North Atlantic to primarily scope out Russian submersibles, they will need to contact personnel across the globe while also communicating with autonomous vessels.
STS Defence, based in Mumby Road, secured a £12.96m contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to produce and install the integrated UHF SATCOM and EFMTE 4.2 systems. A company spokeswoman said: “This contract is significant to STS Defence, both from a financial perspective and also cementing our place as the expert contractor in maintaining UHF satellite communications across the Royal Navy fleet.
“STS Defence employs more than 200 people in Gosport, this contract will help to maintain job security for a number of years as the contract is delivered over the next eight years.”
The contract will run until May 2033 and four ships will be fitted with the new systems. Defence Digital Commercial at the MoD said the equipment will support ”information Exchange Requirements (IER) for simultaneous voice and data”.
As reported by the UK Defence Journal, the bespoke UHF SATCOM 4.2 capability was previously accredited across the Type 26 fleet. It has been installed on the first three vessels, the publication added. The MoD said STS Defence and SNXP, a firm that helped co-design the system, possess “the technical ability and experience necessary” to build and equip the communications system.
A total of eight Type 26 frigates will be built at by BAE Systems in Glasgow. The first, HMS Glasgow, has been taken out onto the water for the first time and the fitting out process is ongoing. These ships are due to enter the Royal Navy fleet from 2028 and into the mid-2030s.
An STS Defence spokesperson added: “The Type 26 frigates are the RN’s new frigates being built on the Clyde by BAE – the UHF Satcom system that STS Defence is fitting will ensure that their satellite communications has the latest technology giving the ships the ability to communicate securely around the globe.”