Consolite wins lighting contract for Royal Navy’s Type 31 frigates

UK-based company Consolite Technology has been awarded a contract to supply the general and
navigation lighting system for the Type 31 general purpose frigates built by Babcock International
Group.

As disclosed, the contract covers all general lighting, which includes all internal compartment lighting and exterior lighting for all weather decks.

The Type 31 vessels will use solid-state LED-based lighting which has a range of special features required for warships including:
– Intrinsically safe (EX) (Zones 1 and 2)
– Night vision goggle (NVG) lighting
– Dual mode dark adaptation
– Emergency battery back-up.

The supply of the navigation lighting is also provisioned in the contract, the company revealed.

The system includes touchscreen control which provides status and life warning for each light. It automatically switches to a secondary mode in the event of light or primary power failure and has a Safe-Return-To-Port system to control lights if the primary control system is impaired by battle damage.

All lights are fully NVG compliant throughout the dimming range to allow NVG flight operations whilst remaining compliant with shipping regulations.

The Royal Navy picked Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 proposal as the preferred design for its Type 31 frigates in September 2019.

The construction of five vessels will take place at Babcock’s Rosyth, Scotland-based yard. The first unit is planned to be launched in 2023.