UK awards Maritime Network Evolution contract

Airbus Defence and Space will upgrade the communications networks on Royal Navy vessels under a £36 million contract announced on 8 November.

The four-year Maritime Network Evolution contract, awarded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), covers networks on 20 vessels including Type 45 Destroyers and Queen Elizabeth class carriers.

The company will provide a solution that creates the Internet Protocol backbone of the future maritime architecture and extends the life of the military SATCOM into the mid-2020s. It will remove obsolete equipment, remove the dependency of serial services and allow platforms to have the ability to select their own communication bearers for operations. 

Richard Franklin, head of secure communications, Airbus Defence and Space, said: ‘For more than a decade now we have provided the UK with maritime communications capability. With this evolution programme we continue delivering the most advanced capabilities possible to the Royal Navy.

‘This programme is an example of how efficient Airbus Defence and Space is working with the UK MoD to refresh existing technologies, keeping the infrastructure up to date and providing future proof and engineer enhanced solutions.’