Working with Raytheon on Type 45

SES has been awarded a contract by Raytheon Systems to produce Interrogator Interface Units for the first three Type 45 Destroyers. The units will provide an integrated interface solution between the Type 45 platform's Long Range Radar, the Identification Friend or Foe Interrogator unit and the ship's Video Distribution System.

The Interrogator Interface Units will provide all necessary electrical signal conditioning and conversion and will be built and qualified to withstand the demands of operation on board a modern warship. The first production unit will be fitted in the Maritime Integration and Support Centre, for use during Combat System integration trials. Units will then be fitted to the initial batch of three ships with options for additional units in the future.

The Type 45 will succeed the Royal Navy's long-serving Type 42 destroyers, which were designed in the 1960s and came into service between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s.

The first ship is due to enter service in 2007 and will be named HMS Daring, the second and third are to be HMS Dauntless and Diamond respectively and these should be in service by 2009.

SES have in turn been working with Raytheon since 1998, successfully designing and developing Control and Display Units (CDUs) for air platforms and since 2001 providing specialist engineering support to their Naval applications. The SES CDU design developed for air platforms has been adapted to meet Naval specific space, environmental and EMC requirements. These naval CDUs will form the basis of the solution purchased for both Type 45 and Astute.