BAE Systems will build 60 new Pacific 24 rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) for the UK Navy, after a £13.5 million (US$19.75 million) deal was agreed with the UK Ministry of Defence.
The Pacific 24 Mark-4 will be deployed on Royal Navy ships such as the offshore patrol vessels, as well as the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers due to arrive in Portsmouth in 2017. The RIBs can be deployed from ship or shore at speeds of up to 38 knots as a rapid response craft to perform fast rescue, anti-piracy and counter-narcotics missions.
The RIBs will include high performance shock absorbing seats which will minimise crew fatigue, allowing them to travel up to six-times the distance.
"The new seats provide significantly greater performance but are much heavier, so we faced an additional challenge to reduce the weight on the boat elsewhere to compensate. Structural composites and a lighter engine gave us the biggest weight savings, whilst ensuring we maintained the necessary payload requirements," Les Gregory of BAE systems stated.
A team of 19 BAE Systems employees will start work in early 2016 to build the boats over the next four years at the company's small boats manufacturing facility at Portsmouth Naval Base.
The fourth generation Pacific 24 RIB is a step-up from its predecessors. It features a 276kW twin turbo diesel electronic engine with inbuilt self-diagnostic technology. The boats have also gained the Safety of Life at Sea accreditation meaning they can now be used for rescue operations.
News of the contract award follows the company's first in-water demonstration of an unmanned RIB.
The BAE Systems-funded development is being designed as a potential retrofit to the Pacific 24 RIB. The unmanned RIB allows crews to carry out tasks such as high speed reconnaissance and remote surveillance, while keeping sailors out of harm's way.