The engines powering the Royal Navy’s cutting-edge fleet of Type 45 destroyers are unable to operate continuously in the warm waters of the Gulf, MPs were told on Tuesday.
Executives from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Northrop Grumman and General Electric were grilled by the defence select committee about the failures that have caused the UK’s newest and most advanced destroyers to break down repeatedly in recent years, leaving them without power for propulsion or weapons systems.
Responding to questions about why the power systems failed in warmer waters than the UK, John Hudson, managing director of BAE Systems maritime, said the original specifications for the vessel had not required it to sustain extremes. “The operating profile at the time was that there would not be repeated or continuous operations in the Gulf,” he said.