BMT Wins Consulting Engineering Contract in Thailand to Support Royal Thai Navy Midget Submarine Programme

BMT, the leading international design, engineering and risk management consultancy, has been awarded a contract to support the Royal Thai Navy’s (RTN) new midget submarine programme from its offices in Bath, UK.

BMT has been contracted to recommend submarine-specific engineering management best practice to help the RTN minimise risk during the design phase.  BMT’s UK defence businesses have supported the UK’s in-service submarine fleet and submarine design programmes since 1993.  BMT has acted in a client advisory capacity to several overseas governments, and also supports domestic submarine acquisition and in-service support programmes from its offices in Australia and Canada.

The contract with BMT was signed in September and this task is set for completion in Q1 2019.  This is the first government defence contract won by BMT in Thailand, and the first use of an overseas independent consultancy in this capacity by the RTN as it seeks specialist knowledge and experience to gradually develop an indigenous submarine design capability.

The RTN’s project manager, Captain Sattaya Chandraprabha, comments: “The RTN is delighted to have appointed BMT to support this initial step in the design phase.  We are confident that with BMT’s advice we will be able to put the necessary plans and processes in place to establish a solid foundation for this challenging but exciting project.”

BMT Naval Engineering Manager, James Woolford, comments: “BMT is proud to have won this contract with the RTN and looks forward to applying the broad knowledge and experience that it has of naval design, build and acquisition programmes across all key engineering disciplines.  We remain respectful of the RTN’s intent that the design activities should be wholly undertaken by themselves and we are confident that BMT can add much value through its independent and trusted support.  We very much hope that this contract represents the start of a long relationship with the RTN and that it also serves to raise the profile of BMT’s defence capability among other submarine operating nations in South East Asia.”