$8.4M to Study Radio Dimension of CEC
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Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems in St. Petersburg, FL received an $8.4 million modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-03-C-5118) for investigation and study of the radio waveform used by the Navy’s Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) Program. Work on this radio waveform research contract will be performed in St. Petersburg, FL (65%); and Largo, FL (35%), and is expected to be complete by February 2006. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C issued the contract.
CEC is a sensor netting system that allows many ships to pool their radar and sensor information together, creating a very powerful and detailed picture that is much finer, more wide-ranging, and more consistent than any one ship could generate on its own. The data is then shared among all ships via secure frequencies. DID has covered one element of this system, the UGS-2 planar arrays.
Yet CEC is far more than a mere data-sharing program, or even a sensor fusion effort. Indeed, it may well be the most revolutionary capability available to the modern US Navy…
CEC is a critical hinge of the U.S. Navy’s Sea Shield and FORCEnet doctrines under Seapower 21, and will also play a large role in naval ballistic missile defense systems.
Ships using CEC get more than a detailed picture – they can extend engagement ranges through cooperative engagements, such as handover of missile control from the launching platform to another ship or radar that is better able to see and illuminate the target. This is especially helpful with long-range anti-air missiles like the SM-3 Standard, which have ranges of several hundred miles. CEC can even be integrated with various land and air systems, from Patriot missile radars to JLENS aerostat blimps.
For an article by two CEC program managers that covers some of its developments and the issues it had to work through, see the March 2000 Sea Power Magazine: “Changing the Face of War“.
