KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept 8 (Bernama-PRNewswire) -- HMS Tamar and HMS Spey have departed Portsmouth in advance of their historic deployment to the Indo-Pacific. During the deployment, BAE Systems' global deployed support team will maintain the vessels wherever operationally required. The arrangement allows the Royal Navy to be highly agile and is underwritten by BAE Systems' global success in support of Royal Navy Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) around the world under the Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) contract, which delivered an unprecedented 98% Operational Availability of the Royal Navy's OPV fleet in 2020.

BAE Systems has been closely involved with HMS Tamar and Spey since build. The ships were designed and built at the Company's shipyards on the River Clyde and the Company has supported the vessels since they were commissioned into the Royal Navy over the last year.

For the last two months, the ships have undergone mission-critical equipment and capability enhancements in Portsmouth. During this period, the BAE Systems team has upgraded the ships' generator cooling systems, ensuring optimum deployment performance, and overseen the application of the camouflaged 'dazzle' paint, giving HMS Tamar and Spey their distinctive looks.

"We've worked closely with the Ships' Staff and our industry partners in getting HMS Tamar and Spey deployment-ready," commented Bill Page, Project Manager, CLS, in BAE Systems' Maritime Services business. "But this is just the start of the journey. This deployment is part of the UK Government's Global Britain strategy, supported by the Royal Navy. As a trusted industry partner, BAE Systems will be part of that journey, moving in lock-step with our customer's needs throughout."

BAE Systems' contracting for availability support team manages the whole ship support solution, delivering high operational availability to the Royal Navy's eight OPVs around the world.

The team acts as the point of contact for all support activities, delivering repairs and maintenance periods where operationally required, minimising transit time, ensuring rapid defect rectification and driving value for money for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

"We're proud of our proven track record of delivering constantly high operational availability to Royal Navy OPVs over the last 20 years," continued Bill. "Our performance is aligned to each ship's needs, is end-user focused, and is driven by a strong partnering ethos. As the prime contractor providing deployed support to HMS Tamar and Spey, we will work closely with the MOD to ensure the best-possible availability and material state of these platforms throughout their deployment."

About BAE Systems:

We provide some of the world's most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions and employ a skilled workforce of some 89,600 people in more than 40 countries. We work with local partners to transfer knowledge, skills and technology.
 
CONTACT: Tom Doherty, Head of Communications, Asia, M: +60-1-2586-2600, E: Thomas.doherty2@baesystems.com

Source: BAE Systems Malaysia

--BERNAMA