Babcock International has detailed progress on its five year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to deliver an upgraded 4.5in Mk8 Mod 1 medium calibre gun programme for the Royal Navy.
Working in collaboration with BAE Systems, Babcock has delivered a number of design interventions and successfully completed a series of live firing trials with QinetiQ at the MoD’s Eskmeals Range in Cumbria.
The trials were conducted over a five-day period utilising multiple land and sea sites, with various range, accuracy and altitudes successfully tested. Results will now be applied to the programme as work progresses.
The Mk8 equipment will be used across numerous Royal Navy platforms with the potential for deployment on future MoD contracts.
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Shipbuilders are saying the programme is going ahead on time as the government estimates 7.7 million tonnes of steel are needed for 2026 infrastructure projects.
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The adaptable design of Babcock’s Arrowhead 140 frigate, already selected by the UK Royal Navy and Poland, has led to more orders from Indonesia while other countries continue to weigh it up.
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