Sourced : Naval Today
BAE Systems, the company responsible for UK’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship program, has awarded an equipment contract to Rolls-Royce to manufacture diesel generators for the first three Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships.
This marks the first Type 26 manufacturing contract to be agreed since the UK Ministry of Defence announced a £472 million contract extension in March 2016 to progress the Type 26 Global Combat Ship program.
Rolls-Royce previously constructed their MT30 gas turbine for the new ships. The company announced in January 2016 that the turbine passed the factory acceptance test at the Rolls-Royce test facility in Bristol, UK.
Each Type 26 ship will require four of the MTU diesel generators based on 20-cylinder MTU Series 4000 engines, which will provide a low-emission solution to the ships’ electrical supply and slow speed propulsion. Each generator set will deliver approximately 3 MW of generated power, enough to power around 6,000 homes. The generator sets are similar in size to a 20ft shipping container.
MTU is a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce and is one of the leading manufacturers of large diesel engines and complete propulsion and drive systems for marine applications.
Knut Müller, Head of MTU Governmental Business, said: “The Type 26 Global Combat Ship is the first newly-designed Royal Navy surface vessel to be equipped with MTU engines and the fact that we are involved in such a leading-edge project fills us with great pride.”
It is the first time Rolls-Royce has supplied a naval vessel with an MTU propulsion system that meets the requirements of the IMO III emissions directive. To achieve this, each of the four engines on the vessels will be fitted with an exhaust after treatment system, which uses a Selective Catalytic Reduction unit to neutralise nitrogen oxide emissions.
The generator sets are bedded on specialist mounts and surrounded by an acoustic enclosure, ensuring that the propulsion system operates at low noise levels.
The UK Government committed to buy eight of the advanced anti-submarine warfare ships in its recent Strategic Defence and Security Review. The programme is set to replace the thirteen older Type 23 frigates of the Royal Navy.
In March 2010 BAE Systems was awarded a four-year contract to develop the Type 26 Global Combat Ship. The first Type 26 ship is expected to be delivered in 2022 and the Royal Navy expects the ships to remain in service beyond 2050s.