This paper discusses the integration of new weapon systems into in-service platforms, from the marine engineering point of view. The integration of new weapon systems poses some significant questions regarding who has what responsibility for the integration into the ship's systems, the standards used and implications for the ship design. This paper is not intended to cover all of the integration aspects of weapon systems but is focused on the integration of systems into the ship's electrical power system. What came to light during the Sonar 2087 project was that it was absolutely critical that all of the right people are involved in the project at the right time. Further more, that it is unwise to assume that the a weapon system supplier will have all the necessary technical expertise or understanding of the whole platform design to completely integrate a weapon system with out assistance from the MoD. This may seem like common sense; however, the weapon system project team may not carry any in-depth marine engineering expertise, so some of the potential problems may not be recognised until late in the project.
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