Rolls-Royce has secured a significant contract to supply its Mission Bay Handling System (MBHS) for Batch 2 of the UK Royal Navy’s Type 26 City-class frigates. The contract, awarded by programme prime BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited, calls for the manufacture of five MBHS units at Rolls-Royce’s Canadian Naval Handling Centre of Excellence in Peterborough, Ontario.
As a global leader in specialized naval handling systems, Rolls-Royce has been delivering advanced solutions to the naval industry for over 35 years. The MBHS is designed to provide an integrated approach for handling and stowing cargo, munitions, and both unmanned and manned offboard craft.
This new agreement brings the total number of MBHS units awarded for the Type 26 programme to eight. Rolls-Royce was previously selected to supply three units for the UK Royal Navy’s initial batch of frigates. The first complete system is expected to be delivered later this summer.
Jessica Banks, Programme Executive – Naval Handling Systems for Rolls-Royce Defence, remarked, “This is a huge win for Rolls-Royce in Canada and our team in Peterborough. Our Mission Bay Handling System is perfectly designed for modern naval operations, providing adaptable and flexible integration solutions suitable for a wide range of activities. Rolls-Royce is proud to bring this mission-critical capability to the Type 26 programme and is committed to delivering for the UK Royal Navy.”
Ian Brown from Defence Equipment and Support, UK Ministry of Defence, added, “Having been personally involved in the Mission Bay Handling System aspect of this programme from the beginning, it is a great achievement to get to this point. We have a superb piece of equipment unique to the UK Royal Navy that will significantly strengthen our capability. There has been a lot of effort and collaboration, and the network this has brought together has been invaluable. I look forward to the future of installing and working on HMS Glasgow, then handing over to the Navy to prove its full capabilities and functionality.”
The MBHS system transforms a ship’s mission bay into a versatile, multi-purpose space, adapting to various operational needs. It allows for the storage of diverse cargo, munitions, and containerized mission modules, eliminating the need for dockside cranes. The system’s precisely controlled hydraulic boom ensures the efficient and safe deployment and retrieval of manned and unmanned surface vessels, even in challenging sea conditions up to sea state 6.
