BAE Systems says their 90 metre-long offshore patrol vessels (OPV) were built in an “agnostic” way which leaves the customer free to make the choices.
Michael Salkeld, Regional Director at BAE Systems told DefenseHere they sold vessels to UK, Thailand and Brazil and all buyers were happy with the end product.
Salkeld said: “It’s a very attractive way for the countries to do that. We’ve offered them to a number of countries around the region. There are a number of competitions going on at the moment. I think what’s unique about our offer is that the customer can largely decide what systems they want themselves. So we don’t offer a prescriptive build for the ships.
So as long as the guns and the radars and the propulsion can be integrated together, we’re happy to actually fit the model of our ship. You’ll find other manufacturers, for example, when you buy one of their vessels, you’re locked into a design, you’re locked into a radar, you’re locked into a sonar window. We’re completely agnostic regarding the system, so that leaves the customer free to make the choices that they want.”
In 2011, HTMS Krabi, the first OPV whose design and technology was transferred by BAE Systems was built and launched in Thailand.