BAE awards Rolls-Royce Type 26 contract

Deal covers the manufacture of diesel generators for the first three Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships

BAE Systems has awarded Rolls-Royce subsidiary MTU a contract to manufacture diesel generators for the first three Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships for the Royal Navy.

It is the first Type 26 manufacturing contract to be agreed since the UK Ministry of Defence announced a £472 million contract extension in March 2016 to progress the programme.

Each Type 26 ship will require four of the MTU diesel generators based on 20-cylinder MTU Series 4000 engines, which will provide a low-emission solution to the ships’ electrical supply and slow speed propulsion. Each generator set will deliver approximately 3MW of power.

Geoff Searle, Type 26 programme director at BAE Systems, said: “This is another great step forward for the programme. We are seeing real momentum, with manufacturing contracts awarded to seven supply chain partners for key equipment for the first three ships, and I look forward to continuing to work with the team at Rolls-Royce as we move forward.

“We are working closely with partners across our supply chain in the UK, Europe and further afield. We are pushing forward innovation in the way we design and manufacture warships, harnessing new technologies and processes to make sure we can deliver cutting-edge solutions to meet the Royal Navy’s requirements.”

It is the first time Rolls-Royce has supplied a naval vessel with an MTU propulsion system that meets the requirements of the IMO III emissions directive. To achieve this, each of the four engines on the vessels will be fitted with an exhaust after treatment system, which uses a selective catalytic reduction unit to neutralise nitrogen oxide emissions. The generator sets are bedded on specialist mounts and surrounded by an acoustic enclosure, ensuring that the propulsion system operates at low noise levels.