SMCS and Gresham-CAP
By its prompt response to the needs of the Falklands War, CAP Scientific demonstrated its ability to supply naval computer technology. With the decision to build the new Vanguard class submarine to carry the Trident missile system, the UK Ministry of Defence proceeded for the first time to run an open competition for the command system. In 1983, CAP Scientific teamed with Gresham-Lion, a British manufacturer of torpedo launch control equipment and now part of Ultra Electronics plc, to form a special purpose company, Gresham-CAP Ltd, to bid for the system. Up to that point all RN ships and submarines had command systems built by Ferranti using custom-built electronics. Gresham-CAP offered a novel distributed processing system based on commercial off-the-shelf components and utilising a modular software architecture largely written in the Ada programming language. The Gresham-CAP consortium won the bid, and their solution, known as Submarine Command System (SMCS) became the basis for subsequent products from the company.
The choice of Intel 80386 processors and MultiBus, when many competing chips were available and the PC had only recently reached the market, showed foresight as the basic architecture remains in service today on RN submarines. (The choice of an array of INMOS Transputer chips to process sonar tracking data was less successful - whilst they did the job, the lack of long term support / future product line meant they have been phased out once general purpose processors were able to fulfill the role.)
The impact of this still-young company displacing one of the great names of British electronics in the Royal Navy shocked the industry and can be seen as one of the first open competitions in modern British defence procurement and followed a long post-war period of 'preferred contractor' polices.
The founders of CAP Scientific sold their complete shareholding to CAP-CPP, which subsequently listed on the London Stock Exchange as CAP Group plc. In June 1986, the Group acquired YARD (Yarrow-Admiralty Research Department) Ltd, a marine engineering consultancy, formerly part of Yarrow Shipbuilders, based in Glasgow.
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