British-based Babcock to build systems for South Korean submarines

British-based engineering firm Babcock will provide submarine equipment for the South Korean navy after winning a seven-year contract.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering awarded the contract, worth an undisclosed amount, for the production and delivery of weapons handling and launch equipment for the South Korean Jangbogo III submarine programme.

It is the third such contract awarded to Babcock, which will provide a weapons handling launch system with an air turbine pump and programmable firing valve launch, similar to those used in the UK Astute class and Spanish S-80 submarines.

The company said the system is compact, highly efficient, quiet and requires less maintenance than similar systems.

“This is another major achievement for Babcock and underlines our ability to work with customers across the world,” said the company's defence technology managing director Jeff Lewis.

The first hardware will be ready for the Republic of Korea Navy in March 2020, said Babcock.

The new contract comes at a time of high tension on the Korean peninsula, after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s military successfully detonated its largest ever nuclear bomb following a series of test missile launches.