Multi Gland Penetrators (MGP)

A penetrator allows cabling to pass from one space to another through a bulkhead, from a straightforward partition to a critical barrier such as a fuel tank or the pressure hull of a submarine. Sometimes called a feed-through, its role is to transition cables through the bulkhead while maintaining a complete seal against leaks. The level of engineering complexity depends significantly on the criticality of the application.

Penetrators fall into two categories: gland types, where cables are permanently built into the penetrator, and connectorised types, where receptacles on both sides of the bulkhead can be connected and disconnected. SMI has spent more than 25 years producing pressure hull penetrators trusted to deliver advanced future capability without compromise. Growing demand for data bandwidth has driven the development of hybrid electro-optic solutions alongside traditional electrical penetrations, with Multi Gland Penetrators offering a route to greater service density through a single hull penetration.

With platform systems increasingly generating and consuming more data, the need for power and data bandwidth has increased exponentially. Taking additional services through the pressure hull requires additional penetrations, with each forming a critical risk.

Two strategies can be employed to de-risk modular build whilst supporting future capabilities. The first is migrating data from copper to fibre media. The other is to put multiple services through a single penetration without adding additional connectors. Multi-Gland Penetrators (MGPs) have been developed to increase the service density through a single penetration on the hull exploiting the tried and tested pedigree of pressure hull glands whilst satisfying the build flexibility.

Where reconfiguration may be preferred connectorised versions are available.