Thales, BAE Systems and CGI have announced a strategic teaming agreement that will see the three companies bring together their collective expertise in Electronic Warfare, in order to respond to the opportunity to partner the Ministry of Defence for the second phase of the Royal Navy’s Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme (MEWP).
MEWP is a significant Ministry of Defence procurement programme that aims to provide upgraded electronic warfare capabilities to the UK Royal Navy.
After successfully upgrading the Royal Navy’s electronic warfare sensor capability as part of Maritime Electronic Warfare Surface Ships Block 1, Thales along with BAE Systems and CGI have teamed to address the next increment known as Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability (MEWSIC) Increment 1.
The three companies will bring together their collective expertise to partner with the Ministry of Defence in order to deliver the critical components of electronic surveillance sensors, electronic warfare command and control and electronic warfare operational support.
Equipment will be delivered in increments and deployed across the Royal Navy.
What will each company offer?
Building on 20 years of collaboration and innovation with the UK Ministry of Defence in the field of Electronic Warfare, Thales’s solution develops the Royal Navy’s existing investment in technology, equipment, infrastructure, training and operator experience to deliver sovereign Electronic Warfare fleet protection for the UK.
With a unique ability to operate in congested and complex modern Electro-Magnetic environments, Thales offers the most technologically advanced Digital Wideband Radar Electronic Surveillance solution on the market, able to upgrade and rapidly integrate with other industrial providers in order to deliver future capabilities. Victor Chavez, CEO Thales in the UK stated:
“The criticality of providing a cutting edge Electronic Warfare Defence capability to enable fleet wide protection has long been recognised. At Thales, we have worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence for over two decades to develop world leading technology. I am delighted to announce we are now bringing to the table the collective expertise of BAE Systems and CGI in this field. I believe this partnership will enable us to deliver the best possible Electronic Warfare capability to the Royal Navy.”
BAE Systems’ Naval Ships Combat Systems team designs, integrates and supports naval combat systems, and is the sole supplier of Combat Management Systems to the UK Royal Navy. Our command and control products are found across the Royal Navy’s fleet, including its Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers and the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. BAE Systems is at the forefront of electronic warfare command and control technology having worked closely with the Royal Navy to develop its existing solutions and supported the Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme through its earlier phases.
In response to the challenging requirement of MEWSIC, BAE Systems’ highly skilled combat system engineers will deliver a cost effective, open architecture command and control solution, ensuring the Royal Navy can plan, position and respond to both the current and emerging electronic warfare threat environment.
Richard Williams, Naval Ships Combat Systems Director, BAE Systems, commented:
“I am pleased to announce that we are teaming with Thales and CGI to provide the Electronic Warfare Command and Control (EWC2) capability for MEWSIC, a new capability that will enhance the safety of the Royal Navy’s fleet.
With more than 30 years of expertise in command and control systems, and as the sole supplier of Combat Management Systems to the Royal Navy’s surface fleet, BAE Systems brings vital knowledge and experience to this team – the only team that can deliver an electronic warfare capability to time and cost based on current in-service, UK-based capabilities.
Along with Thales and CGI we will provide a command and control solution that delivers both assured performance and secure UK operation and shows innovation in our technology and enterprise.”
For over 40 years, CGI has successfully delivered secure IT solutions across the Ministry of Defence, developing and supporting information services and processes that are common across Electronic Warfare Operational Support communities and also accommodate their individual needs.
CGI’s information enabled approach recognises communities of interest through the integration of proven electronic warfare tools from both UK and international partners to provide fast, accurate and timely data, so that end-users receive actionable intelligence when it is needed.
Neil Timms, VP Space, Defence and Intelligence at CGI in the UK said:
“The value of agile and interoperable Electronic Warfare Operational Support (EWOS) has been understood for many years. CGI currently supports the Ministry of Defence in the provision of their EWOS Capability and related systems.
I am delighted that we have this opportunity to work with Thales and BAE Systems to provide a world-leading EWOS Capability, as a fully integrated electronic warfare capability to the Royal Navy.”
A bit confused! Is this a done deal or is it a project which is out for tender, and this consortium is preparing to bid for it?
Don’t know Rob. Was unaware of this requirement. Sounds like they are teaming in order to respond to an as yet unpublished RFI/RFP. The only alternative supplier in the U.K. I suspect can only be Leonardo, unless it’s opened to the Americans. I know little about this other than unlike their American, French, Italian, Dutch and German counterparts, in the last 20 to 30 years the RN has tended to concentrate only on passive deception techniques primarily with off board decoys of various sorts, the only exception being the Siren off board active decoy. I don’t know if this represents… Read more »
From what the team members are saying this is only covering ESM, EW support databases and EW Command and Control for the deployment of decoys. Lockheed Martin have teamed with Elbit to compete for this work, so it looks like the incumbents have joined together rather than compete with each other. There may be other companies bidding to supply an upgraded jamming capability but if so they are keeping quiet about it. Its worth noting BAE havn’t mentioned Nulka and Thales haven’t mentioned their jammer products. This is only Increment 1 so upgrades to / replacement of SEAGNAT may be… Read more »
A bit of good news: Defence minister says HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark ‘are safe’ A Defence Minister has refused to be pushed into making an immediate announcement about basing all of the new Type 26 frigates in Plymouth. Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate called by Luke Pollard, Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Guto Bebb said the Government would decide on the frigates before the end of the year after the Modernising Defence programme. Mr Bebb told MPs that Plymouth’s remaining amphibious warships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, were “safe until 2033 and 2034”, which is their… Read more »
Just seen that a T45 has the new SHAMAN fit at sea. So we can now add SIGINT to a T45s repertoire.
The old Outboard system on the T22 B2 was a game changer with the situational awareness it gave you and that was in the 90s. This new system will no doubt be another game changer for the T45 operators.
Only problem is you have to put up with all those CTs being onboard…
The Shaman CESM is based on the US Navy’s AN/SSQ-130(V) Ship’s Signal Exploitation Equipment Increment F, so the Americans already have had this system deployed