NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., 12 April 2011. BAE Systems engineers have delivered two production units of the U.S. Navy’s primary shipboard intelligence system for U.S. naval forces, designed to provide greater intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), and targeting capability compared to legacy systems. This first BAE Systems-built production system of the Distributed Common Ground System-Navy (DCGS-N) is now being installed onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in Norfolk, Va. The second system is being shipped to the USS George Washington (CVN 73) in Yokosuka, Japan. The BAE Systems-led team also includes General Dynamics, Sun Microsystems, ManTech, Space Dynamics Laboratory, InVisM, Argon ST, and Athena Consulting.

"Fleet delivery of this DCGS-N system advances the Navy’s access to critical joint and national intelligence systems to support multiple mission areas," says Tom Hennies, director of C4ISR Solutions for BAE Systems. “Sailors and crew members can more efficiently get the information they need to carry out their missions.”

DCGS-N integrates applications and services into a common infrastructure for sharing and disseminating vital data for analysis and targeting in support of ashore and afloat missions. DCGS-N enables the Navy to exchange information and data across multiple security domains, warfare areas, environments, and theaters.

“BAE Systems’ delivery of the Eisenhower and George Washington DCGS-N systems greatly contributes to the timely deployment of this crucial intelligence exploitation system to the Fleet. It provides critical capabilities that give the U.S. Navy a significant edge in maritime information dominance,” says Capt. Robert Parker, program manager for the U.S. Navy's Battlespace Awareness and Information Operations Program Office, Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence.

The systems are part of BAE Systems’ five-year, $72 million DCGS-N Prime Mission Product contract with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command to manage DCGS-N development, production, and support. More than 25 systems will be delivered under the contract.

BAE Systems is working to deliver upgraded system capabilities, with an early adopter upgrade scheduled for installation on the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) later this spring.