Carrier Mission System Contract for BAE Systems

The Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a £275M contract for the design and supply of the mission system which will underpin the warfighting capabilities of the Royal Navy’s two new aircraft carriers.

The company will be responsible for systems engineering and integration of the mission system which caters for over 1000 operational users and will be present in 1200 compartments on the ship.

The main components of the mission system are an air management and protection system (comprising of a combat management system, radars, air traffic control system, navigation and bridge systems); an information system; networks; and communications.
Cdr Simon Petitt, MoD’s lead in Mission Systems stated, “The Mission System turns the ship into a warfighting unit able to deploy air power and focus its fighting effect against appropriate targets.”

Guy Griffiths, managing director, BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies said “The new mission system will significantly improve situational awareness especially in combat scenarios. We are well placed to deliver this because of our expertise and experience in providing state of the art solutions to the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army.”

The mission system has three functional areas; the information system which covers the computing hardware, internal networks and C4I software applications to support effective command and control on the carrier. The internal and external communications equipment to support the required voice and data services, and finally the air management and protection system which contains the on-board sensor and weapon systems for the management of aircraft in the air and on deck and the defence of the ship.

The mission system underpins some of the key operational compartments on the carriers. Firstly, the operations room which is the nerve centre of the entire ship. This is where the operators control CVF, its sensors and aircraft. Secondly, the bridge, which is responsible for getting the ship to the launch position at the right time and for safe operation of the ship at sea. From here the ship is navigated to the correct point for aircraft launch, turned into wind for launch and positioned for aircraft recovery. Thirdly, the FLYCO (flying control) which is the seaborne equivalent of the airfield control tower at Heathrow.

BAE Systems is the premier global defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 97,500 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded £15.7 billion (US$31.4 billion) in 2007.