Bid in Prospect for Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme Phase 2

BAE Systems, CGI and Thales announced a strategic teaming agreement on 31 May under which they will bring their collective experience and industrial capability together to respond to the opportunity to partner the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the second phase of the UK Royal Navy’s (RN) Maritime Electronic Warfare Programme (MEWP).

MEWP is a significant MoD procurement programme that aims to provide upgraded EW capabilities to the RN. State of the art equipment, using cutting edge technology, will be delivered in increments and deployed across the entire navy.

After successfully upgrading RN EW sensor capability as part of Maritime Electronic Warfare Surface Ships Block 1, Thales along with BAE Systems and CGI have teamed to address the next increment known as Maritime Electronic Warfare System Integrated Capability (MEWSIC) Increment 1. The three companies will partner with MoD to deliver the critical components of electronic surveillance sensors, EW C2 and EW operational support.

Building on 20 years’ collaboration and innovation with the MoD in the field of EW, Thales’ solution develops the RN’s existing investment in technology, equipment, infrastructure, training and operator experience to deliver sovereign EW fleet protection for the UK. With a unique ability to operate in congested and complex modern electro-magnetic environments, Thales offers the most technologically advanced digital wideband radar electronic surveillance solution on the market, able to upgrade and rapidly integrate with other industrial providers in order to deliver future capabilities. Based on operationally proven technology and capability, Thales can confidently deliver the long term EW fleet protection required by the RN.

BAE Systems’ Naval Ships Combat Systems team designs, integrates and supports naval combat systems, and is the sole supplier of combat management systems to the RN. Its C2 products are found across the fleet, including its Type 23 frigates, Type 45 destroyers and the QUEEN ELIZABETH-class aircraft carriers. The company is at the forefront of EW C2 technology, having worked closely with the RN to develop its existing solutions and supported the MEWP through its earlier phases.

In response to the challenging requirement of MEWSIC, BAE Systems’ highly skilled combat system engineers will deliver a cost-effective, open architecture C2 solution, ensuring the RN can plan, position and respond to both the current and emerging EW threat environment.

For over 40 years, CGI has successfully delivered secure IT solutions to the MoD, developing and supporting information services and processes that are common across EW operational support communities and which also accommodate their individual needs. CGI’s information-enabled approach recognises communities of interest through the integration of proven EW tools from both domestic and international partners to provide fast, accurate and timely data, so that end-users receive actionable intelligence when it is needed.