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Right now, in many American ships beyond the top-tier AEGIS destroyers and cruisers, the detect-to-engage sequence against anti-ship missiles requires a lot of manual steps, involving different ship systems that use different displays. When a Mach 3 missile gives you 45 seconds from appearance on ship’s radar to impact, however, seconds of delay can be fatal. Seconds of unnecessary delay are unacceptable.

Hence Raytheon’s Ship Self Defense System (SSDS), which uses software and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics to turn incoming data from several systems (radar, radar warning receivers, combat identification, electro-optics) into a single picture of prioritized threats. SSDS will then recommend an engagement sequence for the ship’s crew, or (in automatic mode) fire some combination of jamming transmissions, chaff or decoys, and/or weapons against the oncoming threat. The entire ship’s combat system concept, including the sensors and weapons, is known as Quick Reaction Combat Capability (QRCC) – and SSDS is the key element that ties it all together.

Recent developments involve ongoing PEA contracts…

• SSDS: Current Versions
• Contracts & Key Events, 2008 – Present [updated]

SSDS: Current Versions

CEC Concept
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SSDS began Operational Evaluation (OPEVAL) in 1997 on USS Ashland [LSD 48], a Whidbey Island Class amphibious assault ship. It will be added as a refit to other vessels, and qualification of the SSDS Mk 2 MOD 1 was completed on the USS Ronald Reagan [CVN 76] carrier in March 2003. Variants of the SSDS system are deployed on a number of CVN-68 Nimitz Class super-carriers, as well as some LSD-41 Whidbey Island Class amphibious assault ships, all LPD-17 San Antonio Class amphibious assault ships (SSDS Mk 2 MOD 2), some LHD-1 Wasp Class amphibious ships. SSDS will be used across the carrier force, including the new LHA-R escort carriers with secondary amphibious assault roles, and the CVN-78 Gerald R. Ford Class of super-carriers. Components of SSDS have also migrated to the future combat systems of the USA’s new Littoral Combat Ships and the 14,500t DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyers.

SSDS is currently delivered as the Mk 2 version, which includes Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and tactical data links (Links 4A, 11 and 16) that can gather and fuse data from other ships, aircraft, and helicopters when creating the overall combat picture. The Mk2 set also meets Category 3 of the U.S. Navy’s Open Architecture Computing Environment (OACE) standard, which uses commercial electronics rather than military-specific hardware in order allow simpler and cheaper upgrades, enhancements, and plug-ins over a ship’s lifetime.

Weapon systems integrated with SSDS currently include the AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Attack System, the NULKA missile decoy system, Mk 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, Rolling Airframe Missile (Block 2 integration in progress), RIM-7 Sea Sparrow Missile System and the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.

Contracts & Key Events

Unless otherwise noted, US Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington Navy Yard, DC manages the contracts, and Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in San Diego, CA is the contractor.

Nov 2/09: A $6.7 million modification to contract N00024-08-C-5122 exercises a FY 2010 option for performing as the SSDS platform system engineering agent. Once again, integration with the CVN-21 ships’ Dual Band Radar, and the improved RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2, are key tasks.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (90%); Tewksbury, MA (2.5%); Portsmouth, RI (2.5%); St. Petersburg, FL (2.5%); and Tucson, AZ (2.5%), and is expected to be complete by November 2010.

Sept 2/09: A $9.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract for SSDS platform system engineering agent services (N00024-08-C-5122). Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (90%); Tewksbury, MA (2.5%); Portsmouth, RI (2.5%); St. Petersburg, FL (2.5%); and Tucson, AZ (2.5%) and is expected to be complete by January 2010 (N00024-08-C-5122).

Raytheon IDS will be responsible for the integration of complex war-fighting improvements – including compatibility with the CVN-21 ships’ Dual Band Radar, and the improved RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2 – into the modular SSDS. Raytheon IDS will integrate, test and provide certification support for the government-furnished equipment/ government-furnished information required for the CVN/ amphibious ship combat system. See also Aug 10/09 and Sept 30/08 entries, and the Raytheon release.

Aug 13/09: CACI Technologies, Inc. in Chantilly, VA received an $18.2 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N63394-04-D-1262) for engineering and technical support services, training, software, project and logistics services, and products necessary to support the Ship Self Defense System. Services will be required at shore sites, land-based test facilities, shipyards, and aboard ships in ports and at sea.

Work will be performed in Port Hueneme, CA (35%); Wallops Island, VA (20%); Crystal City, VA (20%); San Diego, CA (10%); Little Creek, VA (10%); and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (5%), and is expected to be complete by April 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $4.4 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, CA manages the contract.

Aug 10/09: A $7.4 million modification, finalizing a previously-awarded letter contract (N00024-08-C-5122) to integrate “complex war-fighting improvements” into SSDS, as the platform’s system engineering agent.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (90%); Tewksbury, MA (2.5%); Portsmouth, RI (2.5%); St. Petersburg, FL (2.5%); and Tucson, AZ (2.5%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $394,546 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/09.

Dec 23/08: A $14.9 million fixed price contract for 3 SSDS MK2 Open Architecture Computing Environment (OACE) kits. The SSDS MK2 OACE kits include cabinets, processors, converters, network devices and interface units.

These FY 2009 kits will be installed on the new amphibious assault ship USS New Orleans [LPD 18], the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower [CVN 69], and the navy’s Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (50%) and Portsmouth, RI (50%). Since SSDS is already an established standard system, this contract was not competitively procured (N00024-09-C-5100).

Dec 12/08: An $8 million modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-5122), exercising options for SSDS FY 2009 MK 1 Technology Refresh Support Services; Pre/Post Certification/Life Cycle Maintenance Support Services; Engineering Change/Field Change Kits, Commercial Off the Shelf Obsolescence Engineering and Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages.

In the course of this effort, Raytheon IDS will be responsible integrating components associated with the Dual Band Radar (DBR) and Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 into the modular SSDS. These systems are closely associated with America’s new CVN-21/Gerald R. Ford Class carriers, though the RAM Block II will also serve on a number of other American ship classes.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (90%); Tewksbury, MA (2.5%); Portsmouth, RI, (2.5%); St. Petersburg, FL (2.5%); and Tucson, AZ (2.5%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009.

Nov 7/08: A $7.2 million modification to previously awarded contract N00024-08-C-5122, exercising an option for SSDS pre- and post-certification /life-cycle maintenance support services. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (90%); Tewksbury, MA (2.5%); Portsmouth, RI (2.5%); St. Petersburg, FL (2.5%); and Tucson, AZ (2.5%), and is expected to be complete by September 2009. Contract funds in the amount of $7.2 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Sept 30/08: An $8.3 million cost-plus fixed-fee letter contract to act as the SSDS Platform System Engineering Agent. The contractor will be responsible for the integration of complex war-fighting improvements into the modular SSDS, including components associated with the new Gerald R. Ford Class carrier’s Raytheon announces its first delivery of its open architecture SSDS Mk 2 hardware configuration for installation onboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz [CVN 68]. Warfare system integration and interoperability testing are complete, and, Raytheon delivered the hardware 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

SSDS Mk2 is designed to meet the US Navy’s Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO-IWS) Open Architecture Computing Environment standards, which leverage some of the systems designed for the DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer’s Total Ship Computing Environment infrastructure.

Jan 30/08: Raytheon Co. Integrated Defense Systems in San Diego, CA received a $17.3 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-07-C-5105) for FY 2008 production of 4 SSDS MK 2 Tactical Ship Sets. They will also conduct a special study to define engineering changes to the SSDS MK 2 product baseline in support of Combat System configuration on the first-of-class LHA 6, the US Marines new LHA-R ship that supports amphibious assault and functions as a mid-size aircraft carrier.

Work will be performed in Portsmouth, RI, and is expected to be complete by Oct. 2009. This contract was not competitively procured.