Navy awards £1.2m IT deal to support nuclear submarines

Fujitsu will build systems in less than three months and provide ongoing support

The system will support submarine propulsion development

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £1.2m contract to Fujitsu Technology Solutions to build the IT for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme (NNPP).

The programme is part of a joint UK and US initiative for the next generation of defence submarines.

The specifications for the system include more than 200 different components, including PCs, robotic storage tape libraries, servers, software applications, network switches and videoconferencing systems.

The system will be delivered in just two-and-a-half months.

"Working with our team of engineers to build an IT system for the NNPP demanded both a high degree of flexibility and resourcefulness," said Paul Bolt, UK/US technology exchange programme manager for the NNPP.

"The Fujitsu team proved to be more than up to the task responding quickly to last-minute changes and delivering all the equipment on time and within the proposed cost budget."

The ministry also procured warranties from Fujitsu including a "break and fix " contract for certain components and systems procured – meaning the supplier will provide ongoing support for the installed systems.