VIDEO: Evolution of Offshore Patrol Vessels

With the construction of the Royal Navy’s River Class Batch 2 Offshore Patrol Vessels currently underway in Glasgow, this video shows you how the River Class OPVs have evolved into an enhanced design already in service with the Brazilian Navy and Royal Thai Navy with further modifications to meet the requirements of the U.K. Royal Navy.

The vessels will include a modified flight deck capable of operating the latest Merlin helicopters, larger stores and more accommodation for embarked troops. They will also be the first ships to be built with a BAE Systems designed, new operating system called Shared Infrastructure, which will be rolled out across the Royal Navy’s surface fleet over the next ten years.

Shared Infrastructure uses virtual technologies to host and integrate the sensors, weapons and management systems that complex warships require. By replacing multiple large consoles dedicated to specific tasks with a single hardware solution, the amount of spares which are required to be carried onboard is reduced, significantly decreasing through-life costs.