MBDA’s SEA CEPTOR system will protect the Royal Navy’s new Type 31 frigates under a contract awarded by the UK MoD, the company has announced. The system will allow the Type 31 to simultaneously protect both itself and vessels near it from attack by current and future threats, including high-speed manoeuvring missiles, hostile aircraft and Fast Inshore Attack Craft.
The new contract includes integration of SEA CEPTOR with the Type 31’s systems, along with delivery and installation of ship hardware for the Type 31 programme. Designed and made in the UK, the contract forms part of the Portfolio Management Agreement (PMA), a partnership initiated in 2010 between the UK MoD and MBDA on sovereign complex weapons design and production. The PMA delivers world-beating military equipment for the UK Armed Forces and has secured over 4,000 jobs at MBDA UK while generating savings worth over £1.2Bn.
SEA CEPTOR is currently in service on the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates, and will also protect the new Type 26 frigates. The UK MoD maintains a common stockpile of CAMM missiles for both the Royal Navy and British Army, with the system having been selected by a growing list of other nations for both naval and land based air defence.
Jack Richardson
