Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Panama City, Fla., announced plans Tuesday to award a sole-source contract to Alta Data for 85 of the company's eNet2-1553-1D-E data-remoting devices for the LCAC Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Navigation (C4N) project.
LCAC is a fast air-cushioned hovercraft designed to transport Marines, soldiers, combat vehicles, and other equipment ashore from Navy surface ships during land invasions. The specialized landing craft skims across the surface of the ocean on a cushion of air, and can move at speeds faster than 40 knots. The entire hull rides about four feet above the ocean's surface, as well as above the sand on landing beaches.
Navy experts will use the Alta Data eNet2-1553 units for the LCAC C4N system baseline configuration 4 (SBC4) Ethernet 1553 assembly. The upcoming contract will have options for an additional 20 Ethernet appliances.
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The Navy will award the upcoming contract to Alta Data sole-source because the company is the only one able to make this commercial item that complies with the SBC4 technical data package, Navy officials say. The value of the contract has yet to be negotiated.
In addition to Alta Data, LCAC C4N contractors include Aitech Defense Systems Inc. in Chatsworth, Calif., for single-board computers; Concurrent Technologies in Woburn, Mass., for single-board computers; and Tracewell Systems in Westerville, Ohio, for rackmount chassis.
Looking beyond LCAC upgrades, Navy leaders are pursuing the LCAC ship-to-shore connector (SSC) program, in which the Textron Inc. Marine & Land Systems segment in New Orleans is replacing the existing fleet of 73 LCAC vessels, which are nearing the end of their 30-year service lives.
Related: Navy authorizes Textron to start building one of first LCAC replacement vessels
The SSC LCAC replacement vessels will land warfighters and equipment from the sea at over-the-horizon distances while operating from amphibious ships and mobile landing platforms, and will increase the LCAC's payload from 60 to 74 tons.
The Alta Data eNet2-1553 is an 10/100/1000 Ethernet interface for one or two MIL-STD-1553 databuses. The rugged Ethernet appliance measures 5.3 by 1.4 by 1.5 inches, and weighs seven ounces.
Alta Data combines the AltaCore 32-bit 1553 field-programmable gate array (FPGA) protocol engine with a real-time IP/UDP thin server, which enables users to implement their applications with the same AltaAPI application programming interface as used with standard cards.
For more information contact Alta Data Technologies online at www.altadt.com, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center-Panama City at www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/WarfareCenters/NSWCPanamaCity.
