FLOPPYFlash drive to replace old decoy launcher hardware on UK Royal Navy ships
NewsJanuary 07, 2026
READING, United Kingdom. Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd (SEA) received its 130th FLOPPYFlash drive from Solid State Disks Limited (SSDL) to support upgrades to the Royal Navy’s Outfit DLH decoy launch system, the company announced in a statement.
Outfit DLH has been in service for more than 20 years and is used to deploy countermeasures such as chaff, infrared flares, and other expendable decoys intended to help protect ships from missile and torpedo threats, the statement reads. SEA is serving as prime integrator for the upgrade under a U.K. Ministry of Defence contract, with the effort focused on obsolescence management and capability sustainment, the company says.
SSDL says FLOPPYFlash is intended as a drop-in replacement for legacy electromechanical floppy disk drives used in military systems, where failures can occur as hardware ages. Introduced in 2016, the programmable drive uses industrial-grade Compact Flash storage and can emulate 3.5-, 5.25-, and 8-inch formats, including soft- and hard-sectored variants, at multiple data rates, the statement adds.
SEA first ordered the drives for the Outfit DLH program in 2018, with units built to order for delivery as needed, the company says.
