Solid State Disks Limited (SSDL) is pleased to announce that Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) has taken delivery of its 130th FLOPPYFlash drive, needed to upgrade the Outfit DLH decoy launch systems fitted to the UK Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 23 frigates.
The Outfit DLH system entered service more than 20 years ago and its primary function is to protect naval vessels from incoming missile and torpedo threats by deploying a range of countermeasures including chaff, infrared flares and other expendable decoys. Contracted by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), SEA is the prime integrator responsible for upgrading the Outfit DLH system, where the upgrade is driven by a combination of obsolescence management and capability sustainment issues.
“Our FLOPPYFlash drive is integral to the upgrade,” commented James Hilken, sales director of SSDL, “and has been used in a variety of other military applications where long-obsolete electromechanical floppy disk drives are starting to fail as a result of their moving parts wearing and electronic components degrading.”
Launched in 2016 and using industrial-grade Compact Flash (CF) as the storage media, FLOPPYFlash is a programmable drive that can be used as a drop-in replacement for 3.5-, 5.25- and 8-inch drives – both soft and hard sectored – and can be set to operate at various data rates.
SEA placed its first order in relation to the Outfit DLH upgrade programme in 2018 and the drives are being built to order, with 2020 seeing a peak (of 35 units) in demand and supply. Indeed, SEA is benefiting from SSDL’s ability to supply FLOPPYFlash as if were an off-the-shelf part, safe in the knowledge that the most recent unit delivered is identical to the first, and that future deliveries will be the same too.
Hilken concluded: “This delivery milestone reflects the strong collaboration between SEA and Solid State Disks, and we take immense pride in the fact that our FLOPPYFlash technology is playing a part in the modernisation of the Royal Navy’s fleet of Type 23 frigates.”
For more information, please visit www.solidstatedisks.com
