SEA commences Combat System Highway upgrade on Chile Navy frigates

Published 29th November 2016

Cohort plc company SEA will start work in December on upgrading the Combat Systems Highway (CSH) infrastructure on the Chilean Navy’s three former Royal Navy Type 23 frigates.

The upgrade on the Chilean frigates Almirante Cochrane, Almirante Condell and Almirante Lynch
follows a similar obsolescence upgrade carried out on the RN’s 13 Type 23 ships. SEA has a support
contract covering the CSH for RN frigates and also supports CSHs for various defence Primes.

CSH manages data exchange messages, which are a vital and integral feature of the ship’s Combat
System, enabling valuable operational assets such as the Combat Management System, surveillance, weapon and sonar systems to communicate in a reliable and deterministic manner.

New open architecture system interfaces will be introduced using standard Ethernet format along
with a new Combat System performance monitoring capability. This is hosted on user friendly touch screen technology and provides clear graphical visualisation of the combat system data exchange activity. Also, a new remote display capability is being provided, enabling distribution of the information to new locations onboard. Much improved offline system performance analysis is also now possible though the introduction of a new data logging capability. The programme is being carried out in preparation for a major revamp of the Chilean Navy ships’ air warfare systems.

The first upgrade will be carried out by SEA, the second ship fit will see Chilean Navy personnel
working alongside SEA and work on the third vessel will be handled by the Chileans. All equipment,
will be supplied by SEA.

SEA Maritime Business Development Executive Paul Parsons explained:

“We will deliver into the Chilean ships the same high quality upgrade that has been fitted on the RN frigates, paving the way for the forthcoming upgrade of the air warfare systems on the Chilean vessels. The programme will be carried out whilst the frigates are alongside in Valparaiso Naval Base and we will be working closely with the Chilean Navy to ensure this programme is completed early next year.”