As the outcome of an open competition, Thales has been awarded a £19M contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to perform a mid-life update to the External Communications Voice Distribution and Management System (called KMY) for the Royal Navy (RN) Type 23 frigate fleet.
Known as KRS (KMY Replacement System), this will replace the currently installed analogue KMY communications system, with a fully digital solution, and will serve the Type 23 platform until replaced by the Type 26 frigate.
KRS is phase 1 of the fleet-wide ‘Project Calliope’, which will progressively update the majority of terrestrial communications systems fitted across the Royal Navy surface fleet and also some Royal Fleet Auxiliary platforms.
Thales is the main supplier of communications systems for the Royal Navy, and the award of Calliope phase 1 allows further convergence of communications systems across the platforms, thereby reducing the training and support burden and enabling effective and competitive long term support through economies of scale.
Speaking about the contract award, Carolyn Bellars, the MoD’s Defence Equipment & Support Maritime Combat Systems Communications and Situational Awareness Team Leader said: “I am pleased to be awarding the KRS Contract to Thales - their design offers a compelling solution providing value for money through life.
“KRS represents a significant improvement in technology terms and the Thales solution brings things right up to date.”
Ship fits are expected to commence in Spring 2017 and the contract includes five years of support on an availability basis. Forty naval Forces have chosen Thales to equip their platforms with internal or external communications systems.
“This is a significant win for Thales as it builds upon our position with the Royal Navy as the leading supplier of naval communications products and services for the Fleet. The Thales Team has successfully developed an innovative and competitive solution, including unique approaches to integrating the system into the legacy platforms with minimal impact, always a key requirement of the customer,” said Hervé Derrey, Vice-President for Radio Communications Products at Thales.
Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. With 61,000 employees in 56 countries and over 20,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its unique international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world.
