TEWKSBURY, Mass., 7 Nov. 2009. Raytheon Company and small business partner KaZaK Composites Inc., Woburn, Mass., have completed the design phase of the composite ballistic screen for integration onboard the Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000).

With the U.S. Navy, Raytheon and KaZaK celebrated as the technology formally transitioned to Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III production, a critical milestone for an SBIR program, says a representative.

"This project has set a benchmark for how Navy, industry and SBIR acquisition teams can leverage the expertise of a talented and agile small business, such as KaZaK, to meet real warfighter needs with advanced yet affordable technology," says Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' (IDS) Michael Sosin, vice president of Integrated Warfare Systems and Zumwalt program manager. "This process demonstrated Raytheon's leadership in design and cross-team collaboration to drive to the Phase III production goal set by our customer."

Working closely with the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) acquisition team, Raytheon and KaZaK initiated an accelerated design, prototyping, and test program in 2008. Multiple design iterations were explored during preliminary design through concurrent engineering coordination between Raytheon and Zumwalt national team partners Bath Iron Works and BAE Systems.

The prototype and subsequent full-scale designs were iterated and validated through live-fire testing in 2008 and 2009. NAVSEA provided a prime contract modification to Raytheon for mission systems equipment, enabling a SBIR Phase III subcontract award to KaZaK in September 2009 for long-lead material to produce the ballistic screens for the first two Zumwalt ship sets.