$20.8 million Navy award for Lockheed

The US Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $20.8 million contract to deliver the first Aegis Combat System upgrade ship-set for a cruiser modernisation programme. The upgrade will be installed in up to 22 existing Aegis-equipped cruisers.

The first cruiser modernisation combat system upgrade ship-set will be installed aboard by USS Bunker Hill (CG 52). The contract also includes the delivery of equipment to support land-based testing and training.

The USS Ticonderoga-class cruisers were built in the 1980s and early 1990s. Lockheed Martin says this programme will recapitalise initial investment in these ships by modernising the combat system through computing and display infrastructure upgrades, as well as the hull, mechanical and electrical systems.

The combat system computing and display infrastructure modernisation will incorporate commercial off-the-shelf equipment and open systems architecture. In addition, the Aegis development is also being used for the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater programmes.

The Aegis Weapon System includes the SPY-1 radar, a computer-controlled radar system paired with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System for use in naval warfare.