RN sticks with Mk 8 gun support partners

Babcock International and BAE Systems will continue in-service support for the 4.5-inch Mk 8 medium-calibre guns used by the UK RN on its Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers.

Under a new five-year contract extension from the MoD, worth about £43 million ($59 million), the two companies will support the semi-automatic guns on 19 vessels as well as the shore establishment HMS Collingwood.

The current five-year support deal (worth £41 million) expires this year.

Babcock stated on 9 April that its continued collaboration with MCG designer BAE Systems ‘offers the capacity, proven capabilities and infrastructure to safely and effectively run in-service support’.

Babcock added that it is using digital twinning to improve the reliability and extend the service life of the Mk 8 gun.

This approach ‘provides the on-board maintainer with the information they need to optimise maintenance and provides Babcock the foresight needed to predict future faults and proactively intervene to keep the asset operational and increase availability’, the company noted. 

This article was updated on 12 April with a new image of the Mk8 gun.

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