BriarTek Awarded Contract to Outfit Fleet of Royal Navy’s Submarines

BriarTek recently was awarded a publicly tendered contract to outfit her majesty’s Royal Navy’s submarine crews with the newly redesigned ORCA TX-103 submarine escape locater beacon, beating out two other finalist companies. This is the first full-fleet implementation of any navy submarine fleet in the world and is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2013. The ORCA TX-103SE transmitter helps locate personnel on the water’s surface—regardless of how much sea separates them — after they have safely escaped a stricken vessel.

Two factors swayed the U.K. navy’s decision: BriarTek’s innovative new design and user-replaceable battery says BriarTek co-owner Bill Dull. Dull says, “Most other personnel locator beacons are filled with liquid to withstand the pressure at submarine depths. Because the beacons are so designed, they have to be sent to the manufacturer for routine battery replacement resulting in lost time and additional costs. Take a look a read more about ceramic injection molding. Our new beacon was designed with a structure that mirrors that of a submarine. It has ribs that help it withstand the bone-crushing pressure—only our ribs are on the outside instead of the inside. This rib design means that we don’t have to fill the device with liquid and that the batteries can be replaced by personnel on a submarine in less than a minute.”

As a result of BriarTek’s contract win, several other submarine fleets are investigating BriarTek’s innovative new product that demonstrates the company’s devotion to cutting-edge leadership in maritime safety and survivability.