Innovative helicopter landing system installed on third Royal Navy ship at UK Docks

UK Docks Marine Services has helped install an advanced Heli Deck Lighting System on the Royal Navy's HMS Forth, improving helicopters' ability to land on the vessel at night.

Work on the Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) means HMS Forth now joins sister ships HMS Trent and HMS Spey in hosting the Glamox Helicopter Visual Landing Aid System (HVLAS).

The new technology will enable the ship's staff to operate with greater flexibility, control, and mission agility.

The installation, completed ahead of schedule and within budget, marked a successful collaboration between UK Docks (the project's original driver), Glamox and Du Pre Marine, and is an example of how the public and private sectors can work together to deliver strong results for the Ministry of Defence.

Stephen Lee, operations director at UK Docks Marine Services, which has a boat facility and is a big investor in Gosport, said: "Completing the HVLAS installation on HMS Forth ahead of schedule is a direct result of the experience we carried forward from HMS Trent and HMS Spey. 

“In 2024, our team built the case for the project and brought du Pré Marine in as the installation partner. 

“We hold the contract, and this installation was particularly satisfying because our Teesside facility provided the base of operations, while Glamox and du Pré Marine brought the technology and the engineering skill to execute. 

“Completing this complex project ahead of schedule demonstrates what this facility and our team can deliver in support of the Ministry of Defence and Royal Navy."

The HVLAS rollout began as a UK Docks initiative to enhance the operational capabilities of the OPVs, highlighting the opportunity to significantly improve the ships' aviation capability. 

UK Docks has a £250m, eight-year contract running to 2031 to service and maintain all five of the Royal Navy’s Batch 2, River Class, OPVs (HMS Medway and HMS Tamar are the other two), and the idea of the HVLAS rollout was sparked by UK Docks looking at ways to enhance operational capabilities.

The MoD approved the project under the Change Impact Assessment Process.

The programme was first executed on HMS Trent and is now being extended across the remaining fleet.

For this third installation, Glamox supplied the HVLAS, with du Pré Marine's engineering team providing a turnkey solution, including installation and commissioning.

Acceptance trials at sea, covering daytime and night-time helicopter approaches and landings, will follow in the coming weeks for HMS Forth.

The Glamox HVLAS is a complete flight-deck LED lighting system, supplied to Navies worldwide, that provides pilots with visual cues and information during approach and landing. 

It includes a stabilised horizon bar that indicates the horizon's position regardless of the vessel's roll and pitch, a three-colour glide path indicator showing whether an aircraft is on the correct approach path, deck-edge lighting, and focused LED beam lines providing precise positional cues for pilots in low-visibility conditions or using night vision goggles. 

The system also includes variable intensity controls, enabling covert operations and compatibility with helicopters from partner nations.

This operational benefit has already been demonstrated on HMS Trent, where a US Coast Guard helicopter conducted the first-ever night landing of a foreign-partner helicopter on a Royal Navy Batch 2 OPV off the coast of Miami, Florida.

Toby du Pré, managing director of du Pré Marine, said: "The installation on HMS Forth was completed by our team within eight weeks. 

“What this programme demonstrates is what a focused three-way partnership can achieve. 

“Glamox supplies the technology, a certified, military-grade system with a 30-year design life; our engineers carry out the physical installation, commissioning and set-to-work on board; and UK Docks provides the contract structure, the facility, and the operational coordination that makes it all run.

“Without the UK Docks Teesside yard as the base of operations and UK Docks' relationship with Defence Equipment & Support and the Royal Navy, this installation would not have happened the way it did.

“From initial concept to installation across three vessels took approximately 14 months, and that pace is down to how well the three organisations have worked together.”

Lou Lewis, UK business development manager for Defence and Security at Glamox, said: "HMS Forth completing this installation at the UK Docks Teesside yard is a significant step in the rollout across the Batch 2 fleet. 

“The partnership between Glamox, du Pré Marine and UK Docks is what makes this programme work in practice. 

“Glamox provides the system but it is du Pré Marine's engineering expertise and UK Docks' contract leadership and shore-side infrastructure that turns a product into an operational capability. 

“We are now three vessels into the B2 Class rollout, and the model is working."