UK: Northrop Grumman to Upgrade Machinery Control and Alarm Systems For Mine Countermeasure Vessels

Northrop Grumman Corporation has received a contract from BAE Systems to upgrade the machinery control, alarm and surveillance (MCAS) systems on eight U.K. Royal Navy mine countermeasure vessels.

Under the contract, Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit will supply new-generation systems to replace the ships’ existing MCAS. The systems will monitor more than 500 sensor points on the ships’ main propulsion engines and drive systems, generators and auxiliary machinery. The scope of work will also include extended warranty and spares. Installation, testing and commissioning will be contracted following completion and validation of the design with installations scheduled to take place on the eight vessels between 2011 and 2015.

“The Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine solutions are based on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) industry-standard components for all key building blocks within the system,” said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. “This helps to control initial capital costs and also ensures cost-effective through-life support using industry-standard parts, which are readily available through industrial suppliers worldwide.”

A total of 13 Hunt-class mine countermeasures ships were commissioned between 1980 and 1989. Eight ships remain in service and are undergoing extensive upgrades.

“These ships play an important role in enabling the Royal Navy to carry out its operational commitments, which includes protecting valuable shipping lanes,” said Sir Nigel Essenhigh, chairman of Northrop Grumman U.K. “We are pleased to be the chosen supplier for these system upgrades which add to the portfolio of mission-critical products, systems and services that we offer to the Royal Navy.”

Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine is a major supplier of machinery automation, monitoring and alarm systems for the Royal Navy. The company is under contract to supply the platform management systems for the Type 45 destroyers and new Astute-class submarines.

Sperry Marine is a business unit of Northrop Grumman’s Naval and Marine Systems Division. Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.

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Source: irconnect, March 15, 2011;