£1bn ‘revolution’ for Royal Navy training
New programme to play ‘key role’
TRAINING for the Royal Navy will be ‘revolutionised’ by a £1bn ‘milestone’ programme, a defence company has vowed.
Raytheon UK insists it will play a ‘key role’ in overhauling the military as part of a consortium that will ‘transform the Royal Navy’s shorebased training across 16 sites’ over the next 12 years as part of a new defence deal.
Among the sites to be included in the arrangement are HMS Collingwood, in Fareham, and HMS Sultan, in Gosport. And Raytheon said the contract will support jobs across Portsmouth, allowing the firm to ‘continue to grow’ its presence in the city.
Jeff Lewis, chief executive of Raytheon UK, said: ‘We are thrilled with today’s award announcement, which will see this partnership transform the Royal Navy’s training and learning solutions over the next 12 years.
‘We will help the Royal Navy drive transformation and equip them with the latest training technologies to tackle the challenges of the future.
‘Our decades of experience in training and focus on technology-enabled transformation will place the Royal Navy at the forefront of a newly modernised armed forces.’
Rear Admiral Phil Hally, the Royal Navy’s director of people and training, said the new training deal would be a huge leap forward for the Senior Service.
‘The award of this 12-year contract marks a major milestone for navy transformation,’ he said.
‘It will see the modernisation of the Royal Navy training system at scale to deliver the operational capabilities of the future, unlock more opportunities for our people, and get better trained people to the front line, quicker.’
The defence company, a subsidiary of an American multinational, supports upgrades on the navigation systems of Britain’s £6bn fleet of Type 45 destroyers in Portsmouth.
The company will also use its footprint in the city to deliver the navigation and bridge systems for both the navy’s two new breed of frigates, the Type 26 and cheaper Type 31.
James Gray, managing director of cyber, training and space at Raytheon UK, added: ‘We are really excited to be able to work with the Royal Navy over the next 10 years to bring new technologies and advanced learning solutions to help transform their training.’