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Thales awarded contract for Dreadnought submarine masts

Thales has been awarded a GBP169 million (USD220 million) contract to equip the UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Dreadnought nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) with a new Integrated Combat System Mast solution.

Announcing the award on 13 July Thales said the new mast would provide the submarines' above-water situational awareness by – for the first time – combining advanced visual sensors, electronic warfare (EW), and communications capabilities into a single package. The scope of supply includes two masts for each Dreadnought boat.

The company has already been contracted to supply its Sonar 2076 integrated suite for the Dreadnought submarines.

The latest award builds on a tradition dating back to 1917, whereby Thales has equipped every RN submarine in service with a periscope or optronics mast manufactured at its site in Glasgow, on the Clyde.

The Integrated Combat System Mast is an evolution of the company's first-generation system, known as the CM010, which equips the UK's Astute-class nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) and Japan's Soryu-class diesel-electric submarines (SSKs).

Earlier in 2023 Thales completed the development of the baseline new-generation variant, known as the CM020, which features all the functionalities of the CM010 but in a smaller mast with a much lower profile, reduced signature, and more advanced sensors. According to Thales, the Integrated Combat System Mast for Dreadnought has taken this development a step further by increasing the power and the stealth of that mast capability through the addition of a next-generation digital radar electronic support measures (RESM) solution designed and manufactured at Thales' Crawley site.

Under the Dreadnought programme, BAE Systems is building four new SSBNs – with three units now in build – at its Barrow-in-Furness facility. They are intended to replace the RN's four Vanguard-class submarines from the late 2020s to early 2030s. Armed with the Trident II D5LE strategic weapon system, the Dreadnought SSBNs will maintain the UK's continuous at-sea deterrent into the 2060s.

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An artist's impression of the Dreadnought-class submarine. (Crown Copyright)

Under the Dreadnought programme, BAE Systems is building four new SSBNs – with three units now in build – at its Barrow-in-Furness facility. They are intended to replace the RN's four Vanguard-class submarines from the late 2020s to early 2030s. Armed with the Trident II D5LE strategic weapon system, the Dreadnought SSBNs will maintain the UK's continuous at-sea deterrent into the 2060s.

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In addition to equipping the Dreadnought submarines, the new mast solution has been designed to support a UK pan-flotilla solution that includes the Astute-class mid-life upgrade and the future SSN-AUKUS boats. As with its earlier optronics mast variants – and with UK government approval – Thales believes that the new system has considerable export potential. The company noted that there is also the option of fitting one of its lower-profile variant masts into the existing periscope tubes of older submarine classes – a solution it believes could work well for Australia's Collins-class and Canada's Victoria-class SSKs, for example.

Looking further ahead – and with one eye on SSN-AUKUS (in the event that both a search mast and attack mast option are selected for the programme) – Thales is looking to expand its product offerings with the development of an ultra-low profile attack mast (CM030). According to Thales, concept and high-level design work have already been completed, and the mast will feature 90% commonality with the CM020, featuring the same sensor suites.

Lockheed Martin cuts F-35 delivery estimate for 2023

Lockheed Martin expects to deliver 100–120 F-35s in 2023, down from an earlier projection of 147–153 aircraft because of delays in developing the fighter jet's Technology Refresh 3 (TR-3) upgrade, according to company officials.

Lockheed Martin delivered 50 F-35s in the first half of 2023, all of which were in the earlier TR-2 configuration, company chairman, president, and CEO Jim Taiclet told analysts during an 18 July earnings call. However, Lockheed Martin “remains fully dedicated” to delivering its first aircraft with the TR-3 hardware and software upgrade in 2023, Taiclet said. TR-3 is supposed to improve the F-35‘s computer memory capacity and processing power.

“We have completed 58 flight tests on four different aircraft in the TR-3 configuration”, including a May flight test that involved “critical capabilities” such as upgraded datalinks, a new electro-optical targeting system, and radar, Taiclet said. Upcoming tests will incorporate multiple aircraft, sensor fusion, and additional weapons.

Despite the reduction in the 2023 delivery forecast, Taiclet said the company has not changed its expectation that annual deliveries will increase to 156 F-35s in 2025 and “the foreseeable future”. Lockheed Martin delivered 141 F-35s in 2022.

Taiclet highlighted several recent positive developments in the F-35 programme, including the first F-35 for Poland entering production, Rheinmetall selecting a site in Germany to build F-35 centre-fuselage sections, the Czech Republic expressing interest in buying the F-35, and Israel indicating it wants to expand its F-35 fleet by 50%.

“On the F-35 programme, we continue to see strengthening customer demand both domestically and internationally,” he said.

Lockheed Martin chief financial officer Jay Malave reported that the F-35 backlog was 421 aircraft at the end of June.

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The UK's first F-35 rolls out of Lockheed Martin's factory in Fort Worth, Texas, in the US in 2011. (Lockheed Martin)

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Despite the F-35's problems, Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics business generated net sales of USD6.9 billion in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, up 17% from the same period in 2022. Operating profit for the business also rose 17%, to USD718 million. Lockheed Martin overall reported net sales of USD16.7 billion and net earnings of USD1.7 billion in Q2.

Airbus pushes for progress on NMH

Airbus is pushing the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to progress its New Medium Helicopter (NMH) requirement at a quicker pace, with a senior official telling Janes and other defence media that it stands ready to deliver on its H175M offering.

Speaking at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) at Royal Air Force (RAF) Fairford in Gloucestershire, Lenny Brown, managing director of Airbus Helicopters UK, said that with the invitation to negotiate (ITN) expected from the MoD in the coming weeks, the company is keen to press on with the requirement to replace the Airbus SA 330E Puma HC2 and three other UK military rotorcraft types with 36–44 new medium-lift helicopters.

“We do not anticipate an ITN before September, and we won't know the final requirements until we get the ITN. But we are ready, so let's get on with it,” Brown said on 14 July.

The NMH procurement plan is now scheduled to enter the second phase after Airbus, Boeing, Leonardo, and Lockheed Martin were downselected in the earlier pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) stage. As noted in a recent House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC) sitting in May, NMH is now sat with the assessment committee, and then needs to be signed off before it goes to the ITN phase ahead of a type selection being made. The Puma replacement helicopter was scheduled to enter service in 2025, but the first helicopters are now not expected to be delivered until early 2027.

Brown told Janes at the Paris Air Show 2023 in June that he was “a bit disappointed” with the pace of the NMH programme. With NMH having already slipped, Brown noted at RIAT that a UK general election scheduled for 2024 may adversely impact the programme timeline, saying, “I appreciate that 2024 is an election year [in the UK], which might be a factor [for further delaying the programme].”

Despite the delayed progress to date and the potential prospects for further delays again, Brown said that the H175M Task Force announced at the same RIAT event in 2022 has been pushing ahead with readying its bid. This industrial conglomerate comprised Babcock International, Martin-Baker, Pratt & Whitney Canada, and Spirit AeroSystems, covering support and services, specialist seating and cabin integration, the PT6C-67E powerplant and in-country maintenance, and design and manufacturing activities, respectively. Boeing was added to this team as the training and services provider in March.

“We have 550 suppliers and over 3,000 people in the supply chain across the country, with the social value element of DSIS [the UK Defence and Security Industrial Strategy] document seeing a focus on Northern Ireland, Scotland, and the [English] Midlands,” Brown said. Airbus Helicopters has also earmarked its Broughton facility in Wales as the future manufacturing site for the H175M should it secure NMH.

“The H175M will only be produced at Broughton, and will only be exported from there,” Brown said. Brown previously told Janes that contingency plans had been drawn up should Airbus not secure NMH, but he stressed that the UK requirement remains its primary focus.

The H175M appeared in the static display line-up at RIAT 2023. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

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While the MoD procurement offices are very focused on the NMH requirement, this is regarded as something of a stopgap measure until the expected arrival in the late 2030s or early 2040s of whatever comes out of the NATO Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) programme. With the NMH expecting to bring in orders for up to 44 helicopters, and potentially as many as 500 international orders for requirements in the same class, the NGRC programme could be worth more than 1,000 UK and international orders.

Brown mirrored this notion that NMH will lead into NGRC (and also the concurrent European Next-Generation Rotorcraft Technologies [ENGRT] effort), saying, “NMH is a stepping stone to NGRC. The future export market will see stiff competition, but Airbus Helicopters is not the largest helicopter company in the world for nothing.”

While the competing companies will certainly be doing all they can to secure the NMH requirement, it is the follow-up NGRC that is seen as the real prize, with one NMH contender describing NGRC as being “the jewel in the crown”. According to Janes Markets Forecast, the total market by programme value (including research and development, services, modifications, and production) through to 2033 is estimated to be around USD237.2 billion, including USD23.4 billion in derived opportunities and USD52.6 billion in stated opportunities (these include opportunities for both newbuild helicopters and upgrade programmes). The total unit deliveries in 2023–32 (newbuild only) are estimated at more than 5,600. The data sample covers just 60 countries for the 2023–32 forecast window.

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JDET Close Pipeline|Industry Thales awarded contract for Dreadnought submarine masts.