Rolls-Royce was recently awarded a contract by BAE Systems to supply the mission bay handling system (MBHS) and replenishment equipment for the first three ships of the class.
The Canadian-designed MBHS will also be built in Canada, at the Rolls-Royce Peterborough facility, the centre of excellence for launch and recovery systems design and manufacture.
Rolls-Royce has many years of experience in designing launch and recovery systems (LARS) for anchor handlers and construction vessels. This experience has been brought to bear in designing the innovative MBHS tailored to the unique requirements of the Type 26 platform.
Type 26 MBHS functions
- Deploy and recover boats and unmanned vessels (UxVs) from both sides of the ship while keeping them under positive control.
- Reach all areas of the mission bay so boats, UxVs, large components or large boxes can be handled safely at sea.
- Load and offload containers and containerized mission packages from either side without the aid of a dockside crane.
Resembling its forerunner – the commercial rail-mounted LARS, – the naval variant is a telescopic luffing boom unit. It is mounted on twin rails that run across the width of the Type 26 and its open mission bay, and is designed to be truly multi-purpose.
When launching and recovering small boats, unmanned surface vessels (USV) or unmanned underwater vessels (UUV), a constant tension winch – also part of the system – is used.
Active heave compensation (AHC) can be incorporated into the control system to extend vessel operations in severe weather conditions.
As naval requirements continue to evolve, the Rolls-Royce MBHS is designed to accommodate future upgrades. “We know requirements change rapidly,” says Brian Morrow, Business Development Manager for Naval Handling Systems. “As naval vessels have long service lives, our system will continue to develop and will be adaptable to handle the different payloads we have yet to think of and design. The system will be capable of handling the integrated portable solutions that are now being developed.”