Serious Dollars for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)

Jan 02, 2020 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $138.5 million contract to exercise options for AEGIS Combat System Engineering Agent (CSEA) efforts for the design, development, integration, test and delivery of Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 20. Under this contract, the AEGIS CSEA develops, integrates, tests and delivers computer program baseline Advanced Capability Builds; supports Technology Insertions (TI) (a replacement and/or upgrade of combat system computing hardware and associated middleware/firmware-design development); develops engineering products to support ship integration; supports developmental test/operational test events; develops training and logistics products; and provides field technical support for designated AEGIS baselines. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for Aegis CSEA efforts. The systems engineering, development and integration work under this contract will begin with Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 16 and technology insertion 16, and continue with a future ACB/TI through the period of performance of the contract. Work will take place in Moorestown, New Jersey. Estimated completion will be by December 2020.

AEGIS-BMD: CG-70
launches SM-3

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System seamlessly integrates the SPY-1 radar, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System for missiles, the SM-3 Standard missile, and the ship’s command and control system, in order to give ships the ability to defend against enemy ballistic missiles. Like its less-capable AEGIS counterpart, AEGIS BMD can also work with other radars on land and sea via Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). That lets it receive cues from other platforms and provide information to them, in order to create a more detailed battle picture than any one radar could produce alone.

AEGIS has become a widely-deployed top-tier air defense system, with customers in the USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, and Spain. In a dawning age of rogue states and proliferation of mass-destruction weapons, the US Navy is being pushed toward a “shield of the nation” role as the USA’s most flexible and most numerous option for missile defense. AEGIS BMD modifications are the keystone of that effort – in the USA, and beyond.

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Raytheon’s Standard Missile Naval Defense Family (SM-1 to SM-6)

Dec 06, 2019 04:58 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Raytheon won a $28.9 million contract modification for fiscal 2020 Standard Missile-2 and Standard Missile-6 repairs and maintenance and support material. The modification combines purchases for the Navy as well as the government of the Kingdom of Spain under the Foreign Military Sales program. The deal will provide for engineering and technical support, depot and intermediate level repair, maintenance and recertification of standard missiles, sections, assemblies, subassemblies, components for fiscal 2020. The Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) is a fleet-area air defense weapon that provides anti-air warfare and limited anti-surface warfare capability against today’s advanced anti-ship missiles and aircraft. The Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) retains the Standard Missile airframe and propulsion elements and incorporates the advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). It is the latest addition to the Standard Missile family of fleet air defense missiles and provides Joint Force and Strike Force Commanders fleet air defense against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and land-attack anti-ship cruise missiles in flight. Work under the modification will take place in Arkansas, Arizona and California and expected completion is in December 2020.

SM-2 Launch, DDG-77
(click to view larger)

Variants of the SM-2 Standard missile are the USA’s primary fleet defense anti-air weapon, and serve with 13 navies worldwide. The most common variant is the RIM-66K-L/ SM-2 Standard Block IIIB, which entered service in 1998. The Standard family extends far beyond the SM-2 missile, however; several nations still use the SM-1, the SM-3 is rising to international prominence as a missile defense weapon, and the SM-6 program is on track to supplement the SM-2. These missiles are designed to be paired with the AEGIS radar and combat system, but can be employed independently by ships with older or newer radar systems.

This article covers each variant in the Standard missile family, plus several years worth of American and Foreign Military Sales requests and contracts and key events; and offers the budgetary, technical, and geopolitical background that can help put all that in context.

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LCS: The USA’s Littoral Combat Ships

Nov 28, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Austal USA a modification for Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) industrial post-delivery availability (IPDA) support for LCS 24. This contract modification is for IPDA efforts for LCS 24. Austal USA will provide shipboard support to implement approved engineering change proposals, approved government-responsible deficiencies identified during test and trials, and crew-related activities and preventative maintenance. Austal will also provide program management support and logistics support for technical documentation affected by the work performed. LCS 24 or USS Oakland is the 12th Independence-variant LCS and the third US Navy ship to be named in honor of Oakland. The ship will be homeported in San Diego naval base. The LCS is designed to operate in near-shore environments and open-ocean. It has the capability to tackle modern coastal threats such as submarines, mines, and swarming small craft. Work will take place in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and estimated completion will be by October, 2020.

Austal Team
Trimaran LCS Design
(click to enlarge)

Exploit simplicity, numbers, the pace of technology development in electronics and robotics, and fast reconfiguration. That was the US Navy’s idea for the low-end backbone of its future surface combatant fleet. Inspired by successful experiments like Denmark’s Standard Flex ships, the US Navy’s $35+ billion “Littoral Combat Ship” program was intended to create a new generation of affordable surface combatants that could operate in dangerous shallow and near-shore environments, while remaining affordable and capable throughout their lifetimes.

It hasn’t worked that way. In practice, the Navy hasn’t been able to reconcile what they wanted with the capabilities needed to perform primary naval missions, or with what could be delivered for the sums available. The LCS program has changed its fundamental acquisition plan 4 times since 2005, and canceled contracts with both competing teams during this period, without escaping any of its fundamental issues. Now, the program looks set to end early. This public-access FOCUS article offer a wealth of research material, alongside looks at the LCS program’s designs, industry teams procurement plans, military controversies, budgets and contracts.

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USN Ship Protection: From “Slick 32s” to SEWIP

Nov 11, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $13.9 million contract modification, which is for engineering services and travel for the AN/SLQ-32(V)6 upgrades design agent contract under the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program or SEWIP. SEWIP is an evolutionary acquisition and incremental development program. AN/SLQ-32(V)6 upgrades the existing AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system by incorporating SEWIP Block 1B3 and SEWIP Block 2 systems. The AN/SLQ-32 is an electronic warfare system that provides powerful countermeasures protection for small and mid-size surface ships. The SLQ-32 systems feature a lens-fed multi-beam array that generates very high jamming power at continuous wave so that an almost unlimited variety of jamming techniques can be used. Work will take place in Syracuse, New York and estimated completion will be by September 2020.

“Slick 32”

The US Navy’s AN/SLQ-32 ECM (Electronic Countermeasures) system uses radar warning receivers, and in some cases active jamming, as the part of ships’ self-defense system. The “Slick 32s” provides warning of incoming attacks, and is integrated with the ships’ defenses to trigger Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff (RBOC) and other decoys, which can fire either semi-automatically or on manual direction from a ship’s ECM operators.

The “Slick 32” variants are based on modular building blocks, and each variant is suited to a different type of ship. Most of these systems were designed in the 1970s, however, and are based on 1960s-era technology. Unfortunately, the SLQ-32 was notable for its failure when the USS Stark was hit by Iraqi Exocet missiles in 1987. The systems have been modernized somewhat, but in an era that features more and more supersonic ship-killing missiles, with better radars and advanced electronics, SLQ-32’s fundamental electronic hardware architecture is inadequate. Hence the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP).

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Phalanx CIWS: The Last Defense, On Ship and Ashore

Nov 08, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: A new report from Taiwan’s Up Media says the military is reassessing a plan to buy the land-based Phalanx weapons system to help protect its underground Air Bases at Hualien and Taitung. Although Taiwan had floated a tender to buy the system, it had yet to receive a response from the United States. The Ministry of National Defense is evaluating whether the protection offered by the land-based Phalanx system will overlap with the Air Force’s Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon. The Orelikon has been upgraded to GDF-006 standard with AHEAD rounds. The Phalanx weapon system is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled, radar-guided gun that can defeat anti-ship missiles and other close-in threats on land and at sea.

Phalanx, firing

The radar-guided, rapid-firing MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS, pron. “see-whiz”) can fire between 3,000-4,500 20mm cannon rounds per minute, either autonomously or under manual command, as a last-ditch defense against incoming missiles and other targets. Phalanx uses closed-loop spotting with advanced radar and computer technology to locate, identify and direct a stream of armor piercing projectiles toward the target. These capabilities have made the Phalanx CIWS a critical bolt-on sub-system for naval vessels around the world, and led to the C-RAM/Centurion, a land-based system designed to defend against incoming artillery and mortars.

This DID Spotlight article offers updated, in-depth coverage that describes ongoing deployment and research projects within the Phalanx family of weapons, the new land-based system’s new technologies and roles, and international contracts from FY 2005 onward. As of Feb 28/07, more than 895 Phalanx systems had been built and deployed in the navies of 22 nations.

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Australia’s Hazard(ous) Frigate Upgrades: Done at Last

Oct 30, 2019 04:52 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) last operational Adelaide Class guided-missile frigate, HMAS Melbourne, was decommissioned in a ceremony held on October 26 at its home port of Fleet Base East, Garden Island in Sydney. During its 27 years in service the 4,260-tonne frigate was deployed on operations to the Middle East eight times and earned battle honors for service in East Timor, the Persian Gulf, and Middle East. The 138-meter warship was the only missile frigate left in the fleet of six, after HMAS Newcastle was decommissioned in June. Her departure will make way for a more modern fleet of warships.

HMAS Adelaide

The FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates make for a fascinating defense procurement case study. To this day, the ships are widely touted as a successful example of cost containment and avoidance of requirements creep – both of which have been major weaknesses in US Navy acquisition. On the other hand, compromises made to meet short-term cost targets resulted in short service lives and decisions to retire, sell, or downgrade the ships instead of upgrading them.

Australia’s 6 ships of this class have served alongside the RAN’s more modern ANZAC Class frigates, which are undergoing upgrades of their own to help them handle the reality of modern anti-ship missiles. With the SEA 4000 Hobart Class air warfare frigates still just a gleam in an admiral’s eye, the government looked for a way to upgrade their FFG-7 “Adelaide Class” to keep them in service until 2020 or so. The SEA 1390 project wasn’t what you’d call a success… but Australia accepted their last frigate in 2010, and the 4 remaining ships will serve until 2020.

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DDG Type 45: Britain’s Shrinking Air Defense Fleet

Oct 09, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Babcock International won a deal for for the Gun System Automation (GSA) 9 in-service support contract with the Ministry of Defense supporting the UK Royal Navy. The contract will provide support for all aspects of GSA9 support including Electro Optical Gunfire Control System (EOGCS), the Electro Optical Sensor Platforms (EOSPs), the Quick Pointing Devices (QPD) and below decks equipment of six Control Consoles, Gun Allocation Subsystem, Gunnery Check Fire System and two Maintenance and Analysis Facilities (MAF). The deal includes an option to be extended by two years and will be carried out from the company’s Devonport and Portsmouth facilities in the UK, delivering support for the Navy’s Type 45 Daring Class destroyers and management of the supply chain for the work.

Daring Class

The 5,200t Type 42 Sheffield Class destroyers were designed in the late 1960s to provide fleet area air-defense for Britain’s Royal Navy, after the proposed Type 82 air defense cruisers were canceled by the Labour Government in 1966. Britain built 14 of the Type 42s, but these old ships are reaching the limits of their operational lives and effectiveness.

To replace them, the Royal Navy planned to induct 12 Type 45 Daring Class destroyers. The Daring class would be built to deal with a new age of threats. Saturation attacks with supersonic ship-killing missiles, that fly from the ship’s radar horizon to ship impact in under 45 seconds. The reality of future threats from ballistic missiles, and WMD proliferation. Plus a proliferation of possible threats involving smaller, hard to detect enemies like UAVs. Overall, the Type 45s promise to be one of the world’s most capable air defense ships – but design choices have left the cost-to-value ratio uncertain, and limited the Type 45s in other key roles. A reduced 6-ship program moved forward.

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RIM-162 ESSM Missile: Naval Anti-Air in a Quad Pack

Aug 29, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The US Navy contracted Raytheon with a $190 million low-rate initial production contract for ESSM Block 2 missiles featuring a new guidance system with a dual mode active and semi-active radar. Raytheon says in a press release that the award follows the Navy's decision to shift from development to production on the enhanced intermediate-range, surface-to-air missile, placing the Block 2 variant on track for initial operating capability in 2020. The ESSM Block 2 program is a co-operative effort between the USN and its 11 NATO SeaSparrow Consortium partners to develop an upgraded ESSM 'front-end' to counter current and future threat capabilities within the existing envelope. These include anti-ship cruise missiles, anti-ship ballistic missiles, and surface threats.

RIM-162: sections

The RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) is used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft, and is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. Compared to the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, ESSM is effectively a new missile with a larger, more powerful rocket motor for increased range, a different aerodynamic layout for improved agility, and the latest missile guidance technology. Testing has even shown the ESSM to be effective against fast surface craft, an option that greatly expands the missile’s utility. As a further bonus, the RIM-162 ESSM has the ability to be “quad-packed” in the Mk 41 vertical launching system, allowing 4 missiles to be carried per launch cell instead of loading one larger SM-2 Standard missile or similar equipment.

This is DID’s FOCUS article for the program, containing details about the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile family, and contracts placed under this program since 1999. The Sea Sparrow was widely used aboard NATO warships, so it isn’t surprising that the ESSM is an international program. The NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the USA – as well as non-NATO Australia. Foreign Military Sales ESSM customers outside this consortium include Japan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Britain Upgrading Her Dukes [Type 23 Frigates]

Aug 21, 2019 04:54 UTC

Latest updates[?]: The crew of the HMS Lancaster moved back on board the ship after a two year overhaul in Devonport, the UK Defense Journal reports. The sip also known as the „Red Rose“ has undergone extensive upgrades mirroring the major changes across the frigate flotilla, such as the new Artisan 3D radar, improved navigational radar and new-generation Sea Ceptor missile system as the ship’s shield against air attack. The Sea Ceptor is a sea-based supersonic missile defense system developed for the British Royal Navy. The system will initially be mounted on Type 23 frigates.The Lancaster will now sail back into her homeport of Portsmouth during December. She will then enter the trials phase. Queen Elizabeth launched the Duke Class Type 23 frigate ship in May 1990.

HMS Sutherland

Britain’s Type 23 Duke Class frigates were originally envisioned as pure anti-submarine vessels, to the extent of being planned with no other armament. The 1982 Falklands War quickly put paid to that idea, however, and the Type 23s would end up being commissioned from 1989-2001 and fitted with a main gun, Sea Wolf short range anti-air missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to accompany her torpedoes, decoys, et. al. These changes turned the frigates from specialized sub-hunters into versatile multi-role combatants that play a key role in the British fleet. The Royal Navy is set to continue shrinking in size (see esp. diagram) due to rising ship costs, and even though key platforms like aircraft carriers and amphibious ships may be more capable, the mid-tier combat role filled by frigates is not slated for new construction any time soon. As such, upgrading the Navy’s 13 remaining Type 23s to keep them in service is vitally important to Britain’s future force.

As part of those operational upgrade efforts, the Type 23 frigates will receive: Sonar 2087 towed sonars, the Royal Navy’s latest and most sophisticated submarine hunting system (Thales UK, GBP 166 million for machines that go ‘ping!’); Upgraded vertical-launch Sea Wolf Block 2 air defense missiles to help counter supersonic anti-ship missiles (BAE Systems Insyte with MBDA, GBP 300 million); an improved 114mm Vickers Mk 8 Mod 1 main gun, capable of firing long-range ammunition; and a reshaped stern to cut fuel use. Upgrades are also being performed during maintenance periods, some of which are significant to the ship’s overall capabilities. This article covers a number of upgrade efforts, from 2005-2015.

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SSDS: Quicker Naval Response to Cruise Missiles

Aug 19, 2019 04:56 UTC

Latest updates[?]: Lockheed Martin won a $56 million deal for combat system engineering support on the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS). Under the contract, the SSDS combat system engineering agent and software design agent primary deliverables will be SSDS tactical computer programs, program updates and associated engineering, development and logistics products. The contract will manage the in-service SSDS configurations as well as adapt and integrate new or upgraded war-fighting capabilities. Lockheed will perform work in Moorestown, New Jersey and San Diego, California. Estimated completion date is in December.

Right now, in many American ships beyond its Navy’s 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, seconds of delay can be fatal. Seconds of unnecessary delay are unacceptable.

Hence Raytheon’s Ship Self Defense System (SSDS), which is currently funded under the US Navy’s Quick Reaction Combat Capability program. It’s widely used as a combat system in America’s carrier and amphibious fleets. That can be challenging for its developers, given the wide array of hardware and systems it needs to work with. Consistent testing reports indicate that this is indeed the case, and SSDS has its share of gaps and issues. It also has a series of upgrade programs underway, in order to add new capabilities. Managing these demands effectively will have a big impact on the survivability of the US Navy’s most important power projection assets.

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