Marshall in 14-year sonar module deal with Thales UK

Marshall has been awarded a major 14-year contract by Thales UK to manufacture, maintain, and support sonar modules critical to the Royal Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The contract, running from 2025 to 2039, will see Marshall produce components for the Sonar 2076 and Sonar 2087 systems.

Sonar 2076 is fitted to Astute-class submarines and will equip the upcoming Dreadnought-class, while Sonar 2087 is used on Type 23 frigates and will feature on the future Type 26 fleet, including its export variants. All production and support work will be carried out by Marshall’s Advanced Manufacturing Solutions division at its Cambridge site.

“We are delighted to award Marshall a prominent role in our supply chain for the world’s most advanced sonar suites,” said Steven Lockley, Managing Director of Underwater Systems at Thales UK. “Our collaboration with supply chain partners like Marshall is critical to the continued success of Thales and the Royal Navy’s Maritime Sensor Enhancement Team (MSET) programme… This partnership not only enhances operational capability, but also supports jobs, innovation and investment in the UK’s maritime sector.”

The agreement builds on a long-standing relationship between the two firms. Marshall, which also assembles fuel tanks for the UK’s Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft, will invest in new tooling, assembly and testing capabilities to deliver the contract, further bolstering its technical edge.

Gareth Williams, CEO of Engineering Businesses at Marshall, said: “In addition to reinforcing our highly successful partnership with Thales, this new contract underscores Marshall’s position as a global authority on complex subsystem assembly. We are excited to join the UK’s domestic network of experts supporting our continuous at-sea deterrent.”