WASHINGTON – U.S. Navy surface warfare experts are asking Lockheed Martin Corp. to provide upgraded anti-air warfare (AAW) and ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability for cruisers and destroyer surface warships.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington announced a $65.3 million contract Thursday to the Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems segment in Moorestown, N.J., to build Aegis Multi-Mission Signal Processor (MMSP) equipment sets for Navy and allied warships.
The contract also asks Lockheed Martin to provide Aegis Combat System support equipment; electronic equipment fluid coolers and kill assessment system 5.1 equipment; and MK 6 Mod 0 equipment for Japan and Spain.
The Aegis Weapon System is a centralized, automated, command-and-control and weapons-control system for the U.S. Navy Burke-class destroyer and Ticonderoga-class cruiser; Spanish Álvaro de Bazán-class and F110-class frigates; and Japanese Kongo-class, Atago-class, and Maya-class destroyers.
The Aegis surface warship MMSP provides AAW and BMD capability for cruiser and destroyer Aegis systems. MMSP modifies transmitters of the SPY-1D radar to enable dual-beam operation for reduced frame times and better reaction time, and provides stability for all D(V) waveforms.
The Aegis AN/SPY-1 advanced automatic-detect and -track multi-function phased-array radar and signal processor handles search, track, and missile guidance simultaneously, with a track capacity of more than 100 targets simultaneously.
Aegis, also the name for the shield of the Greek god Zeus, has been aboard Navy surface warships since the 1980s. A computer-based command and decision interface is the core of the Aegis combat system, which enables the system to operate simultaneously against hostile aircraft, missiles, surface ships, and submarines.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Moorestown, N.J.; Clearwater, Fla.; and Owego, N.Y., and should be finished by November 2024. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems online at www.lockheedmartin.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
