Ultra Electronics News

Viasat agreed to buy British rival Inmarsat on Monday in a $7.3 billion deal to broaden the U.S. based company’s satellite and land-based communications services.The takeover of London-based Inmarsat comes just two years after it was taken private in a $3.4 billion deal by a consortium of British-based Apax partners, U.S.-based Warburg Pincus and two Canadian pension funds.While Viasat offers connectivity and communications services to residential, aviation and defense customers in North America…

Choosing next generation communication systems for professional marine operations can be a daunting task. Not to worry: John Haynes provides a primer. Over the past decade we have come to expect fast, seamless global communications from a single device that fits in our pocket. The age of the smart phone and tablet enables multiple voices talking in a conference call and real time transfer of data, ranging from documents to photos and videos. In the modern bridge, most crew members have a GPS in their pocket which can identify where that person is on the planet.

Global engineering, technical and business services organisation, Lloyd’s Register (LR), has announced the appointment of Mary Waldner as Group CFO. Mary is currently Group Finance Director at FTSE 250 listed defence, security, transport and energy company Ultra Electronics and replaces Alastair Marsh’s as LR’s Group CFO following his appointment as CEO of the Lloyd’s Register group in October 2015. Mary has a broad range of experience in a variety of sectors and an excellent track record of delivery throughout a number of senior financial roles with major public limited companies. After graduating from Oxford University with an MA in Physics, Mary started her career at Coopers & Lybrand Management Consultancy Services, before working for Vauxhall Motors Ltd.

“Britannia rules the waves” paid a glowing tribute to the maritime past of the United Kingdom. Over the past three centuries as the sun began to set on the British power, resilient U.K. with its pioneering characteristics began its voyage of transformation to become a world-class maritime services center, with one of the largest clusters of marine insurance, ship finance, law, classification societies, ship broking, education and consultancy organizations. Significantly, two factors were responsible for this change. The first being marine transport, since it was the only point of access to the British Isles, and the second was the maritime trade and naval power that have had a great impact on the maritime sector influencing the country’s economy for several centuries.

The McLean Group announced that it acted as the exclusive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisor to 3 Phoenix, Inc. (3 Phoenix) in its sale to Ultra Electronics Holdings plc (Ultra) for an initial cash consideration of $70 million. Additional payments of up to $17 million will be due subject to earnings growth over the next three years. 3 Phoenix is a supplier of specialist sonar, radar, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products and solutions. For 10 years, the company has delivered mission critical, real-time sensor and processing systems, primarily to the U.S. Navy, but also to commercial customers. 3 Phoenix is a bolt-on acquisition to Ultra's existing Tactical & Sonar Systems Division.

New radio system providing multichannel high-capacity connectivity across networks. According to the manufacturer. the Ultra Orion radio solves many problems for maritime organizations, both in the defense and public safety sectors. It is suitable for a wide variety of missions such as anti-piracy, counter-terrorism and border or coastal security. Paul Zweers, Vice President, Business Development & Strategy, Ultra Electronics, TCS stated, "One of the main issues facing smaller maritime platforms, such as patrol boats, is lack of connectivity to the Common Operating Picture. Currently, these platforms cannot send or receive video or large map files and have very limited interoperability with other vessels, agencies and shore-based headquarters.

US-based Sparton Corporation and Ultra Electronics - USSI, a subsidiary of Ultra Electronics Holdings plc (ULE) announce the award of subcontracts valued at $10.8 million to their ERAPSCO joint venture, for the manufacture of sonobuoys for the United States Navy. The Q53F and Q125 sonobuoys are used to support the United States Naval Antisubmarine Forces. The primary purpose of a sonobuoy is to detect acoustic emissions or reflections from potentially hostile submarines and transmit these signals to US Navy airborne antisubmarine warfare forces. ERAPSCO was awarded a contract for the AN/SSQ-53F, a passive acoustic sensor used for detection…

Heeding the call to join “An Ocean in Common,” authors flooded the Oceans ‘13 MTS/IEEE San Diego technical program committee with a record number of abstracts in a single day. Special topics include an Ultra-deep track discussing current and prospective robotic technologies, plus a panel of scientists to consider research questions. Oceans2013 Chair Bob Wernli, and Co-Chair Kevin Hardy, developer of the unmanned landers for James Cameron’s DeepSea Challenge Expedition, will be the session conveners. “James’ intention is to be certain the door remains open to other explorers,” Hardy said.

Lockheed Martin Canada, a major supplier of systems, software and professional services to the Royal Canadian Navy, will be in Saint John, Halifax and St. John’s this week to meet with companies that could become partners and suppliers on shipbuilding projects, including the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships and other future programs. In each location, Lockheed Martin officials will provide a briefing on how companies can prepare and position themselves for shipbuilding work through major contractors and then will conduct a series of one-on-one meetings to learn about the capabilities of many New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador based companies.

CMR Group has welcomed James Thwaites to its professional team. Thwaites stepped into the newly created role of Group Marketing Manager and will coordinate global marketing efforts for CMR Group. He will lead all activities related to customer/product strategy and launching new products to market, including the Group’s Product Development Forum. Additionally, Thwaites will manage all traditional marketing functions including advertising, brand identity, sales promotions, corporate communications, and business process improvement.

IFS North America said that Seaspan has selected IFS Applications as its Shipbuilding materials requirements planning (MRP) solution. IFS Applications was chosen because it provides a powerful project-based solution (PBS) with the ability to control cost and schedule in real-time, enhancing Seaspan’s ability to efficiently meet customer requirements. This capability will help Seaspan deliver on the recently awarded $8 billion Federal Government shipbuilding program to build non-combat vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy.

Irving Shipbuilding’s successful C$25 billion bid for the combatant portion of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) illustrates the strength of Nova Scotia shipbuilding industry. Under the program, Irving Shipbuilding, Inc. (ISI) will build six to eight Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships and 15 Canadian Surface Combatants for the Department of National Defense (DND) over the next 20-30 years. The NSPS contract is in addition to ISI’s contract to build nine mid-shore patrol vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard…

The U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command has awarded General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems a contract to design and build the Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV) system. The system will initially be a part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission package. The contract has a maximum potential value of $86.7 million for one Engineering Development Model (EDM) and five low-rate initial production systems if all options are exercised. General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). The SMCM UUV system will allow Navy commanders and sailors to reliably detect and identify mines in high-clutter underwater environments in a single pass…

Nobiskrug has developed a new design for a Fast Attack Craft, the NOBIS-FAC60. The vessel is designed for easy operation, high performance, long endurance and cost efficient maintenance. A state-of-the-art combat system enables the NOBIS-FAC60 for anti-air- and anti-surface warfare. An ESM and a Decoy system provide the capability for self-defense. The vessel is designed for the operation in littoral waters for maritime border surveillance, anti-piracy and combat operations in military roles. Nobiskrug is offering the vessel with a helicopter facility and an enhanced range as option.

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $35.8m contract by the U.S. Navy to design and produce antenna buoy systems that will expand the communications capabilities of submarines while they are submerged. The Navy's Communications at Speed and Depth (CSD) program will use expendable submarine and air-launched communications buoys to enable submarines operating below periscope depth and at tactical speeds to communicate with surface ships and land-based assets via satellite networks. All classes of U.S. Navy submarines will be equipped with this capability. Under the contract, a Lockheed Martin-led industry team will develop three types of expendable communications buoys: two submarine-launched tethered buoys that provide real-time chat…

The United States must engage with maritime partners around the world to create and build trust, according to senior Navy leaders speaking at the 2007 Surface Navy Association West Coast Symposium, held pier side at Naval Station San Diego, in August. Surrounded by ships and cooled summer breeze coming off the harbor, the many attendees heard about the Navy’s efforts to create and build upon meaningful partnerships. Rear Adm. Pete Daly discussed the Navy’s efforts to create a new maritime strategy. The previous maritime strategy addressed a Soviet threat that no longer exists. “We had one big enemy. We understood that enemy. We knew where they were coming from. In the past, military powers knew that military adventurism would be met with reciprocal force.

BRITISH COLUMBIA, Canada (NNS) -- U.S. Navy Sailors and American and British contractors tested a new torpedo countermeasures system aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) (BHR) Sept. 4-15, while underway off the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental Test Range in Nanoose Bay. Ultra Electronics is the developer and deliverer of reactive torpedo countermeasure systems. Ultra developed the Surface Ship Torpedo Detection (SSTD) SEA SENTOR system, currently used by the British Royal Navy, and is developing the U.S. Navy’s Detection, Classification, and Localization (DCL) Torpedo Recognition by Active and Passive Reconnaissance (TRAPR) system. “This is a great benefit to the Navy.