British upgrade for frigates

UK-based BAE Systems Plc will upgrade the two frigates purchased by Romania from Great Britain early this year, with the agreement to cover a phased approach, as announced by the company. “BAE Systems has been appointed prime contractor responsible for the reactivation and upgrade of two United Kingdom Royal Navy Type 22 frigates being transferred to Romania under a government-to-government agreement,” BAE Systems specified. Phase 1 of the contract will be undertaken in the UK and Phase 2 entirely in Romania. The first stage of the project, which entails equipping the Romanian Navy with the two vessels, HMS Coventry and HMS London, fully interoperable with the NATO ships and beginning a long-term logistics support programme (March 2003-June 2005), is worth GBP116 million. The second stage will be carried out according to the Romanian Navy’s operational requirements for vessel capability development (2008-2009). The actual price of the ships (if not taking into account the equipment on board to be upgraded and the new pieces of equipment to be bought) is GBP200,000. The contract, awarded to BAE Systems by the UK Ministry of Defence is being managed through the company’s Customer Solutions & Support business group (CS&S). ZF