Royal Navy: MoD awards contract to equip new Type 31 frigates with sophisticated torpedo defence kits

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a new £886,000 contract linked to the Type 31 frigate programme. According to the UK Defence Journal, the MoD notice discloses the provision of three Sonar 2170 Ship Torpedo Defence (SSTD) Fit-to-Receive (FTR) kits.

The contract has been awarded to Ultra Electronics Limited to carry out the work, with a notice being published on August 14. It will last for one year, with the delivery timeline lasting from June 26 to June 25, 2024.

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The robust kits themselves, known as Sonar 270, were first issued to the Royal Navy in 2004. It is equipped with an acoustic passive towed array, a towed acoustic countermeasure (flexible), a single-drum winch, a processing cabinet, two display consoles, two expendable acoustic device launchers – on the portside and starboard sides – and 16 expandable acoustic devices split between the two launchers.

The UK Defence Journal reported that similar contracts were issued in 2022. Investments related to the Type 31 programme are gathering pace.

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A £70m contract with Thales was dished out to bolster a facility where equipment will be tested before being installed on the new warships. The project for the new vessels is due to be completed by the end of the decade.

HMS Venturer, the lead vessel of the five inspiration-class frigates, has had its first crew assigned to it while it’s being constructed in the docks of Rosyth, Scotland.

Full construction is due to be complete by January 2024.