A project helping to build new submarines will see major Royal Navy work return to Medway for the first time in more than 35 years.

More than 130 engineers at the BAE Systems base in Rochester are working to develop the underwater navigation systems to help guide the new Dreadnought class vessels beneath the waves.

KMTV's Ollie Collins reports from Chatham Dockyard

It is the first big project undertaken for the Royal Navy in the Towns since the closure of Chatham Dockyard in 1984, which cost thousands of jobs.

Staff at BAE in Rochester will be using their expertise in developing computer systems for flight controls to transport them into an underwater world.

The innovative approach will adapt controls used in fly-by-wire aircraft and apply them to a marine environment.

The system will manage all major aspects of the submarines' manoeuvrability with the highest levels of safety and reliability.

A similar Active Vehicle Control Management (AVCM) programme is already implemented on modern aircraft which use a fly-by-wire system where electronic systems control the movement of the aircraft.

The engineers will be developing and adapting those controls to manage the heading, pitch, depth and buoyancy of the Dreadnought class – which will cost a total of £31bn once the four commissioned vessels are in service.

Work on the new systems created by the Rochester-based team at BAE has started and further roles are expected to be created during the lifetime of the project.

Engineers from the BAE Electronic Systems branch will join colleagues in the company's maritime and air divisions to create the new controls.

They will then continue developing the technology with a view to installing in other underwater and surface vehicles.

BAE says it is one of the largest development projects taking place at its site based in Marconi Way, near Rochester Airport, and it has created new labs and workspaces as well as significant investment to support the project.

Jon Tucker, director for maritime controls at BAE Systems Controls and Avionics, said: “With over 50 years of avionics experience, we already have a great understanding of how to develop complex, control systems for hi-tech platforms.

"However, taking our technology underwater brings exciting new challenges and we are proud to support the Dreadnought programme and play an important part in our national security effort.”

Submarines were built at Chatham Dockyard and the basins where they were constructed remain one of the major parts of the historic attraction's draw for visitors. The last Royal Navy vessel to be completed there was HMS Ocelot, which entered service in 1962.

The yard closed down in 1984, three years after it was announced by the government the site would shut.

The first of the nuclear-powered Dreadnought class is set to enter service in the early 2030s to replace the current Vanguard class, which has been the mainstay of the UK's nuclear arsenal since 1993.

In total, four new submarines – Dreadnought, Warspite, Valiant and King George VI – will be built at a cost of £7.75bn each.

Both Dreadnought and Valiant are under construction at the BAE shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.

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