In a rapidly evolving maritime landscape, Chess Dynamics, led by Managing Director David Tuddenham, stands out as a key player in providing advanced electro-optical surveillance and fire control systems. With over 30 years of experience, the UK-based company specializes in enhancing situational awareness and gunfire control for both land and naval domains. Their commitment to delivering high-end capabilities is reflected in their extensive export operations, and a significant presence in Southeast Asia.
Can you introduce Chess Dynamics and the products you’re showcasing here?
“Let me introduce you to Chess Dynamics as a company, first of all. We design and manufacture electro-optics surveillance and fire control systems for the land and maritime domains. We’ve been in business for the last 3 decades, so 30 years. And we’ve had a lot of experience of providing high-end capability to provide situational awareness and gunfire control solutions to customers around the world.
We’re based in the UK but we export to countries around the globe, from Ecuador through to Australia. On the maritime side of the business, we operate in Southeast Asia. We have systems installed with the Malaysian Navy, the Thai Navy, Indonesian Navy, and we’re looking to expand our position with other countries such as the Philippines.”
What specific product are you presenting at this exhibition, and do your products cater only to naval vessels?
“Our products that we’re bringing to the show this week are the SeaEagle FCEO-A and SeaEagle FCEO-D, the latter which we have a model of on the stand. This is an electro-optic director and fire control system solution typically deployed for frigates, OPVs, and we can control any in-service naval gun that navies have, whether it is for new build or for retrofit upgrade systems for ships in the navies.
We do this for the region, but we do have a very strong land business as well, including counter UAS systems. We also cover ground-based air defense, surveillance, and targeting solutions that can be integrated onto vehicles. So we provide a broad range of capabilities, but everything is centered around surveillance and targeting fire control applications, utilizing electro-optic sensors, and also radars, tracking radars, surveillance radars to provide integrated situational awareness for the operator and the end user.”
What distinguishes Chess Dynamics’ gunfire control technology?
“Another strength that Chess has is the support of in-service naval guns since replacing such a gun on a warship is an expensive undertaking. You don’t want to do that. You want to upgrade your sensor suite so that you can control those guns to return them back to the performance level they had when they were new and newly installed.
We typically find there are warships with navies in this region and other regions around the world that are old, have old interfaces that a lot of other companies see as too much of a risk. For us, we work very closely with companies such as Bofors, Leonardo, etc., who supply the guns and weaponry, and we are able to integrate with Chess’ control interfaces. And so for certain navies, we’ve enabled the firing of those guns that haven’t fired for 4 to 5 years, providing a really good enhancement to existing vessels such as frigates and OPVs, to give them the next phase of their service life. It’s a real capability of Chess. And we can do the smaller volumes as well; that’s not a problem.”
Is this Chess Dynamics’ first exhibition in the Philippines? Also, how long has Chess Dynamics been active in Southeast Asia?
“It is our first exhibition for ADAS that Chess is exhibiting at. We have had some inquiries from the Philippine Navy for the OPV project, and we’re keen to follow up on future opportunities as well and see how our capabilities can provide that final capability to the navy and give them a competitive advantage effectively.
We have products in service with the Malaysian Navy that have been installed around about 10 years ago, and still, exceptionally reliable, still in service. And that’s one of our additional differentiators in the market. Our products are in service with the UK Royal Navy, and they have been for almost 20 years now. And typically, those products don’t come back for repair except every sort of 10 to 15 years.”
How does Chess Dynamics address technology transfer and offset requirements, and how does your approach benefit local businesses and the Philippine Navy?
“Those sorts of requirements we meet through partnerships with in-country partners that can provide maintenance services, training, and support. We’re based in Horsham, and while our equipment is exceptionally reliable, actually having that in-country first-line support provides a big capability enhancement. So we look to partner with local industries that can provide that service, help us with installation, for various sorts of ship series, production, or whatever it might be. So that’s where we can transfer some technology of ours and also provide the end user with a better, more responsive service. And, of course, offset requirements are also met through doing that as well.
And it helps those businesses grow. As they become larger entities, they can then take on more programs to provide additional support to the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard and other entities. And these have already been implemented in other navies in this region. Certain countries have offset requirements. They have various requirements in terms of supportability and responsiveness. So, yes, we would typically fit a solution to the end customer’s requirements. So Chess is quite flexible and adaptable in that sense as well. We don’t just sell catalog products. We tailor our systems to meet the needs of the end user, so we can provide that compliant solution at a cost-competitive price.”
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