Babcock has successfully designed the weapon handling system (WHS) for integration into the South Korean Navy’s Chang Bogo-class Jangbogo III submarine.
As part of what is claimed to be an important milestone in the project, Babcock completed the design of the weapon stowage equipment and the centre-line lift.
In addition to designing the weapon handling and launch system (WHLS), Babcock will build the equipment for the first two of nine 3,000t Jangbogo-class vessels, under a contract awarded by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).
Babcock Defence Systems Technology managing director Jeff Lewis said: "We are delighted to have completed the design of the handling system, marking an important stage in the WHLS design and production process, and successfully meeting a challenging, tight schedule to help the customer maintain the main build schedule."
Based on the standards of the WHLS that is being developed for other navies, including the UK Astute-class and Spanish S-80 submarines, the WHLS is integrated with an air turbine pump (ATP) and programmable firing valve (PFV) launch system.
Using hydraulic control and actuation, the WHS handles weapons within the weapon stowage unit, packs the weapons safely during operations and then loads them into the torpedo tubes for launch.
Additional phases involve the development of manufacturing drawings, while the company has already completed several other WHLS subsystems, including components of the torpedo tube such as the inlet valve length and inboard length, as well as the flood and drain system.
Babcock has started building the ATPs, inlet valve lengths and inboard lengths at its facility in Bristol, UK, while the WHS will be built in South Korea in early 2015.
The first vessel under the Jangbogo III programme is scheduled for delivery to South Korea in 2020, with the second arriving at the end of 2022.
