Lithuania signed a sales agreement with the UK for ex- Quorn in April 2020, which includes the upgrade and regeneration of the vessel. The ship was decommissioned from the Royal Navy in December 2017 and is laid up afloat in Portsmouth. (Michael Nitz/Naval Press Service)
An ex-UK Royal Navy (RN) Hunt-class mine-countermeasures vessel (MCMV) is to undergo a regeneration and upgrade at the Harland & Wolff-owned Appledore shipyard in southwest England ahead of a new career with the Lithuanian Navy.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed on 13 July that Harland & Wolff (Appledore) had been awarded a GBP55 million (USD65.4 million) contract to return ex-HMS Quorn to service under the M55 Regeneration Project. The MoD's Defence Equipment Sales Authority, part of the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support organisation, has been contracted for the work package on behalf of the Lithuanian Defence Materiel Agency. On signature, the contract has been novated to the Lithuanian end customer.
The Lithuanian Navy operates two former RN Hunt-class MCMVs – Skalvis (ex-HMS Cottesmore ) and Kuršis (ex-HMS Dulverton ). Recommissioned in 2013, both ships were regenerated and upgraded by Thales UK as part of the sales agreement, receiving the Sonar 2193 hull-mounted wideband minehunting sonar and the M-Cube MCM command-and-control system.
A sales agreement for ex- Quorn , decommissioned in December 2017 and currently laid up afloat in Portsmouth, was signed by the UK and Lithuania in April 2020. The transfer includes the regeneration and upgrade of the vessel – including the refit of Sonar 2193 and M-Cube – to bring the vessel up to an operational state similar to that of Skalvis and Kuršis .
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