A few of the top stories from last week in the UK Aerospace, Defence and Security sector.
UK Procures New Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Contracts for a range of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have been awarded by the UK, with drones capable of submerging up to 1,000m among the £6Mn worth of orders. This includes two Gavia Offshore Surveyor AUVs and three IVER 4 580 AUVs. The Iver 4 580 model offers a 300-metre depth survey system with hot-swappable battery sections that can be changed in the field without any special tools. The Gavia drones have a modular design with interchangeable survey modules and batteries, and various survey capabilities including Side-Scan Sonar, Multi-Beam Echo Sounder, and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler.
The Royal Navy purchased the drones as part of Project HECLA, which seeks to enhance the collection and exploitation of hydrographic and oceanographic information. The use of AUVs will enable persistent and accurate situational awareness of the underwater battlespace, allowing for timely operational decision-making based on the latest information. This is particularly important for submarine-hunters, such as the Type 23 Frigates or the P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft fleet, as it will enable them to adapt and respond better when detecting underwater surface threats.
The Gavia Offshore Surveyor AUV and Iver4 580 model underwater vehicles are ideal for various commercial applications, including Bathymetric surveys, Environmental surveys, Exploration and various construction support and inspection tasks for pipelines and platforms utilising side scan, camera, and swath bathymetry or specialised payloads. The underwater vehicles are designed to operate from vessels of opportunity or even from the shore, making them a self-contained, low logistics survey tool capable of delivering high-quality data.
BAE Systems Achieves Record Year for Orders Amid Increased Western Defence Spending
BAE Systems, the largest engineering firm in the UK, experienced a record year for new orders, thanks to increased defence spending by western governments in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The company’s order backlog reached £58.9bn, with a record order intake of £37.1bn. BAE’s underlying operating profits for 2022 increased by 12.5% to £2.5bn, and top-line sales grew by 4.4% to £23.3bn. The company’s dividend to shareholders was increased for the 19th year in a row.
The majority of the new orders came from air and maritime sectors, with contributions from electronic systems, platforms and services, and cyber and intelligence. BAE’s ability to export from multiple markets and diverse geographic footprint give it a competitive advantage. Despite criticisms of dependence on Saudi defence orders, no single programme accounts for more than 10% of group revenues. BAE’s CEO, Charles Woodburn, sees “tremendous potential ahead” and is investing in the business to support the future.
Ministry of Defence Plans New Infrastructure for Highly Classified Information with ‘Top Secret UK Eyes Only’ Status
The Ministry of Defence has announced plans to establish a new secure infrastructure for storing highly classified and sensitive information in a civilian site in the southeast of England. The facility is expected to include a private cloud system and physical document storage as a fully managed service. Top Secret-classified data will be stored at the site, which is the highest level of security classification defined by the government. The department has published an early-stage procurement notice seeking a supplier to provide the full-service provision of physical and IT infrastructure classified above-secret. The contract is expected to last for five years, starting in the second quarter of 2023.
Prospective providers are required to possess List X clearance, given to contractors retained by the government to process or store sensitive information. The MoD did not provide an estimate of how much money will be spent via the contract.
Additionally, the ministry is seeking a provider to replace an incumbent supplier for the provision of IT services required to process data classified at the Secret level. The new provider will be expected to sustain existing services and “enable change that would improve the user experience, increase user numbers and keep pace with the ever-changing cyber landscape”.
The contract is expected to be awarded by March 2025 and will include the delivery of workplace services, end-user support services, productivity and collaboration services, application services, business user services, and records management services.
Thanks for taking the time to read. Have a great week 9.