Royal Navy: HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth to be fitted with futuristic new combat systems

HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Elizabeth will be modernised with new threat detection and Combat Management Systems (CMS). This comes after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a new £285m contract with BAE Systems.

Named RECODE, the eight-year programme aims to ensure the fleet is armed and ready for ever-changing military challenges. Steve Carter, Naval ships combat systems director at BAE Systems, said the new deal represents a huge stride in realising warfare capability of the future.

“The global threat picture, advances in commercial technology and the immense volume of data available to crews means we need to become even more ambitious and far-reaching in our services and support,” he added. “We are excited and privileged to secure this programme that will sit at the heart of the Navy’s ambition to be a protean force.”

RECODE is tailored to meet the Royal Navy’s future operational needs, while completing a modernisation programme quickly to enable the deployment of ships. These systems will also be installed on Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers and the new City-class Type 26 frigates being built. The systems provide warships with all the information they need to track, analyse and respond to threats in combat.

More than 200 high-skilled jobs will be supported across BAE Systems sites in Portsmouth, Filton, Dorchester, New Malden and Frimley. The government is focusing on providing British Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and high-tech suppliers through its defence industrial strategy.

Minister for defence procurement, Maria Eagle, said: “This significant investment in our industry is another example of how our Government is making defence an engine for growth. We are strengthening the UK’s defences while supporting growth, with hundreds of high-skilled jobs, to help deliver on our Plan for Change. By working with British industry we’re ensuring our Royal Navy has the advanced technology it needs while strengthening our domestic defence industrial base.”

The CMS is the primary method for personnel to interact with weapons and sensors. The range of tools it provides crew members include situation awareness, tactical picture compilation, threat evaluation, weapon assignment, navigation, blind pilotage, and weapon direction and control.

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Commodore Phil Game, Interim Director of Sense, Decide and Communicate at the Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) arm of the MoD, said the essential programme will sustain current CMS capabilities on board Royal Navy vessels, enhance their capability and make them fit for the future. He added: “This new programme will take on proactive management of obsolescence, ensuring that at its core it is evergreen, robust and flexible.

“Through our close collaborative work with industry colleagues, this contract will also help to upskill the programme's workforce and sustain UK jobs. The improvements made will be instrumental in making the UK Royal Navy more agile and more capable in our rapidly changing global Defence environment.”

Captain Kevin Miller, Combat Systems Design Authority and Surface Ships Combat Systems Group Team Leader for the Royal Navy, said: “We have a long and successful history with Naval Ships Combat Systems and RECODE represents an important next phase of our collaboration. Today’s challenging landscape means we must adapt and evolve at pace. Agility is at the heart of the programme in three ways – equipment to maintain our capability, process so we can adapt that capability at the pace of relevance and a mindset to ensure we deliver. Those are the key facets that will enable the military advantage our crews are relying on.”