Sperry Marine Bridge and Navigation Suite for Next-Generation UK Aircraft Carriers
Sperry Marine has signed a full production contract for the Integrated Navigation Bridge System (INBS) for the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier Programme. The company also signed a design phase contract for the Navigation Lights, Shapes and Sounds (NLSS). Terms of the contracts were not disclosed, including electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS-N (UK)).
The system will include navigation planning, electronic charts and radar displays, as well as a comprehensive set of sensors and software. The contract also provides for equipment integration and testing. Deliveries are scheduled to be completed in 2018. Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine has already completed the initial design phase of the contract, including change requests, and is currently designing a Navigation Light System under an option in the production contract.
Critical Importance
“Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine has a long and productive relationship with the Royal Navy as a major supplier of navigation radars, gyrocompasses, inertial navigation systems and platform management systems, and we recognise the critical importance of the new aircraft carriers for the defense posture of the UK”, said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. “Sperry Marine has installed more than 2,300 ECDIS systems on commercial ships and international naval vessels around the world, and the company’s naval ECDIS systems are standard on U.S. Navy ships and submarines.