Britain, Lockheed pick airborne surveillance system for aircraft carriers

LONDON, May 26 (UPI) -- An airborne surveillance and control system is to be fitted onto British Royal Navy Merlin helicopters to protect new aircraft carriers and other assets.

The Thales systems to be fitted onto specially adapted Merlin helicopters are the new variations of its Searchwater radar and Cerberus mission system, Thales said.

"Thales' winning solution will maximize the re-use of the Ministry of Defense's existing investment in equipment, training and expertise by upgrading, updating and adapting a battle proven capability, ahead of operational timescales.," Thales said. "Improvements to the Royal Navy's new system include enhanced performance and data processing, as well as the addition of new modes to the operationally proven, high-powered multi-mission radar.

"An improved human machine interface, reduced weight and built-in training features have all been designed to future proof the highly successful system. It will also be capable of being fitted to both rotary and fixed-wing platforms."

The contract for the systems was given by the Ministry of Defense and Lockheed Martin UK, which is the prime contractor to the ministry for the Merlin MK2 helicopters that are set to replace Sea King in 2018. The award comes under the Crowsnest helicopter-borne surveillance capability program.

"The new Crowsnest system will be integrated into the Merlin Mk2 helicopter and will replace the system developed after 1982, the Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control which has served the nation well, both at sea and on land, said Minister of State for Defense Procurement Philip Dunne. "Most recently, it provided essential intelligence to UK and coalition ground forces in Afghanistan.

"Crowsnest will be the 'eyes and ears' of the fleet, designed to provide early detection of potential air and surface threats and provide military commanders time to take essential and often pivotal decisions. In addition, Crowsnest is good news for British industry; once manufacturing starts, it is expected around 300 jobs will be sustained in Crawley, Havant and Yeovil."