Raytheon Systems has been awarded a contract by the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) to undertake competitive Assimilation Phase studies for the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme.
MARS will provide logistic support to Royal Navy vessels at sea comprising Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers and specialist logistics ships to support Expeditionary Forces and Carrier Strike Force operations. The Assimilation contract will lead to down-selection of the industry MARS Project Integrator, who will be responsible for forming the alliance to procure and support the MARS capability.
Jack Cronin, RSL's President and Managing Director, said, "This is an exciting contract for Raytheon and builds on our capability here in the U.K. as a major supplier to the MoD and experience as a Mission Systems Integrator for major U.S. Navy programmes." He added, "Raytheon has considerable experience in large naval programmes where alliances with industry and the customer have been key to successfully developing cost effective system-of-systems solutions.
The MARS programme will be centred in the U.K. and will benefit from Raytheon 'reach-back' by leveraging the investment in tools, processes, and subject matter expertise developed on our major U.S. Naval programmes, which in turn delivers enhanced capabilities while minimising risk to the MoD."
"MARS represents an ideal opportunity for Raytheon to further extend our global systems integration expertise and offer a solution that will draw on the experience we have gained through our role on U.S. Navy programmes, including DD(X), LPD 17, Australian Air Warfare Destroyer, CVN 21 and submarines," said Upinder Dhinsa, vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
"Our proven performance on ship systems integration programmes, coupled with our established partnerships in the U.S. and abroad, positions us well to deliver a highly capable and affordable solution to the Royal Navy and enhance RSL's in-country ship systems skills and naval programme expertise."
