Royal Navy apply off the shelf technology

The UK’s nuclear armed warship fleet is now run on Windows based command systems. A programme called Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG) uses varying numbers of standard multifunction consoles with two lcd screens, hooked up on an internal Ethernet network installed on each submarine. The use of commercial off the shelf technology is expected to save the taxpayer as much as £22million in support costs over the next 10 years. Capt Pat O’Neill, leader of the MOD’s submarine combat system group, said: “This is a fantastic achievement. From speaking to operators and maintainers, I know how much they like SMCS NG. BAE Systems’ work is proof that we can get commercial technology to sea quickly and support it affordably.”