Navy carriers and big-deck amphibs receive new intra-ship voice communications networking

CHARLESTON, S.C., 8 Jan. 2015. U.S. Navy shipboard communications experts are making plans to install new and upgraded intra-ship communications gear aboard the nation's fleet of aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.

Officials of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic (SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic) in Charleston, S.C., announced plans this week to issue a formal industry solicitation for the Interior Communication Systems-Integrated Voice Network (IVN) program.

The IVN project will call for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)-based modernization of the telephone systems aboard aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, and command ships with the IVN system. The solicitation should be released later this month.

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Surface ships involved in the shipboard voice networking project are the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers; Wasp-class amphibious assault ships; America-class amphibious assault ships; and Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships.

Navy officials plan to replace the integrated voice communication system (IVCS) aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships -- starting with the USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) -- with IVN. The AN/STC-4(V) voice telephone system (VTS) for the new Ford-class aircraft carriers, furthermore, will be included in the IVN modernization plan.

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Scalable versions of the IVN are planned for the USS Whidbey Island and USS Comstock dock landing ships, as well as USS Austin amphibious transport dock ship.

The IVN shall provide user end-to-end communications within the ship, interfaces to other shipboard systems, and to shipboard connection points with the Defense Switching Network (DSN) and the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Navy officials say.

The project will use existing telephony equipment rooms aboard the warships and where possible will use the existing ship cable plants through a main cross connect field (MCCF) designed for IVN.

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The IVN solicitation should be released online at https://e-commerce.sscno.nmci.navy.mil/. The expected response deadline is 22 Feb. 2015. For questions or concerns phone the Navy's Ornette Adams at 843-218-6284.

More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/notices/85257996a52844d8732a9d5e1c0a8e43.