A contract notice has been published looking for a Type 45 Destroyer engineering simulator.
According to the notice:
“The T45 Sustainability Team, as part of the Naval Ships Support group, is tasked with ensuring supportability and through-life capability to the T45 Class Destroyers. T45 Sustainability have a requirement to contract for a training simulator for the ships’ Platform Management System (PMS) on behalf of DSMarE at HMS SULTAN.
The simulator must be capable of delivering training in line with both pre-Propulsion Improvements (PIP) and post-PIP configurations.”
The contract award notice also states:
“This contract is for the procurement, installation and integration of IT and hardware systems for the operation of the simulator only; in-service and through life support will be provided through an existing contract.”
The value of the contract will be £50 million.
Propulsion Improvement Project?
The Ministry of Defence have confirmed that all Type 45 Destroyers will have received upgrades to their power systems by the mid-2020s.
In 2016 it was revealed that due to a design flaw on the Northrop Grumman intercooler attached to the ships Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, power availability was diminished considerably when functioning in the warm climate of the Persian Gulf; and it quickly became apparent that the class was not operating as originally envisioned with some losing power mid-deployment.
Therefore a planned refit was scheduled from 2019–21 to fully resolve the problems with the six ships in the class.
Jeremy Quin, Minister for Defence Procurement, stated:
“HMS DAUNTLESS, the first of class ship to receive the Type 45 Power Improvement Project (PIP) conversion, is at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead where equipment is being set to work following installation.
The next phase of the programme will see HMS DAUNTLESS undertake a rigorous trials programme in harbour and subsequently at sea. HMS DARING has been moved to the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead and will be the second Type 45 Destroyer to undergo her PIP conversion.
It is planned that all six Type 45 ships will have received the PIP conversion by the mid-2020s. The programme is dependent on the availability of ships to undertake the upgrade, balanced against the Royal Navy’s standing and future operational commitments.”
You can read more on this here.
PIP, Sea Ceptors, Simulator…good to know we are investing in the capability and availability of this strategic asset. Happy Christmas everyone.
Last February I had to get the engine replaced in my car. It also has very little by the way of offensive capabilities. Does that fit the system requirements?
The clue is in the name ‘escorts’; – if we look at what the RN did in recent wars we can see that slugging it out with major surface vessels is a minor part of the suface fleet’s role: in WW2 the RN mainly:
On a very few occaisions it engaged surface ships and raiders, mostly with the support of carrier strike or land based aircraft.
Apart for ORLAN July 1940 the Navy even did the British thing and gave the French a Heads Up warning before a one-sided engagement put an end too Churchills fear of the French Fleet becoming a German asset
A new engineering simulator, good; one that has to operate for the current propulsion system and the future layout, bad. Again we a trying to overcomplicate things making them more expensive or prone for failure or delay. Its the same issue with Sea Ceptor, installation good finally the T45 will have a anti air capability in missile numbers for her damned good radar suite. Time period bad, why after we have had all the T45s in dock for a long period of time for the powerplant upgrade will we then bring them back into dock for a long period of time for the increased missile fit. Why not do the PIP and Sea Ceptor fit at the same time. By the time that thisweapons fit upgrade is finished (2032) the T45 has a further 5 years of service left before they start to be decommissioned (if everything goes to plan).
Well the CAMM systems will only have been ordered a few months ago, there may of been a spare set that was not fitted to HMS Monmouth, but Cammell Laird may not have the experience of fitting missile systems to warships, unlike BAE’s Portsmouth docks.
Daft question but couldn’t they just use Montrose cut off the aft section rip out old engines and use as a physical training simulator. That way trainees get hands on warship training solving puzzles on how to fix in confined spaces with no Lighting and water pouring in smoke and fire. You know a physical hands on simulation not a slouch in a chair games console SIM. Or is the layout and build design that far removed from a T45.
Not the worst idea, I see where you’re coming from but they’re very, very different in terms of kit, layout and fitment.
I would imagine this will be a virtual reality augmented simulation type thing….
Just don’t turn all the monitors on on a hot day, or it will “gracefully decline” until it craps out!
Havoc Whale Island firefighting and Damage control simulator it use too be at HMS Phoenix
Bad idea. The T23 and T45 have completely different propulsion concepts and other machinery. I can’t see any advantage in using a clapped out frigate as part of the sim for a T45.
Type 45 is an embarrassment 12 ships ordered then down to 6 then no anti ship capability then just 3 have now been fitted with second hand ones
Breakdown after breakdown and a massive final price to each ship
Someone should be held a countable
To make it realistic will the new simulator lose power at critical moments, Also in the article it stated that the PIP upgrades will be completed by the mid 2020’s I believe that it is a bit optimistic. Just putting it out there but why don’t we leave the T45’s as they are and the money saved can then help push forward its replacement.
I thought PIP was an incapacity Benefit …
In the Type 45’s case it’s an Incapacity Impediment 😀👍
Damn you beat me too it , I was also thinking Great Expectations
Ha ha yes that too.😂
So will they be simulating ships 7 and 8. It’s that latest thing the ships are fitted for but not with physical presence.
….. design flaw on the Northrop Grumman intercooler attached to the ships Rolls-Royce WR-21 gas turbines, power availability was diminished considerably when functioning in the warm climate of the Persian Gulf……
Perhaps it might be a good idea to make sure that the person(s) responsible for selecting the flawed item are removed from the office before/when it comes to making the new decision ?
They are probably running the CS now!!!
I assume that one of the requirements for the simulator is that it should be immobile?
They were banging this idea around when they were using the QE class simulator, and that rather have a complete Hull sat in the harbor as a training vessel, which with Type 45s numbers has always been a waste, all basic operations can now be replicated in a simulation suite. makes very good sense