DDG-1000 ‘Destroyers’ to get ALS Lighting System
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Skyler Technologies Group subsidiary RSL Fiber Systems, LLC in Salem, New Jersey won a contract from Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, MS to supply the Advanced Lighting System (ALS) for the U.S. Navy’s forthcoming 14,500t DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class ‘destroyers’. The Advanced Lighting System has already been installed in several new US Navy ships, and in a conversation with DID, RSL Fiber systems estimated a total contract value is in excess of $12.5 Million for the six (6) DDG 1000 class ships planned. The estimated contract value for the two (2) DDG 1000 class ships already approved by Congress is in excess of $4.9 Million, and includes engineering support services and the supply of remote source lighting systems and related hardware.
Skyler actually acquired the RSL Assets of Winchester (a division of Northrop Grumman) on September 10, 2001, assuming control of the Office of Naval Research’s sponsored RSL ManTech Program, and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems’ LPD-17 San Antonio Class contract for associated lighting et. al.
Created through the collaboration of RSL Fiber Systems with fellow Skyler subsidiary C3I, Inc of Hampton, NH; and developed through the guidance of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and a number of U.S. Navy agencies, the ALS is a fully integrated system of lighting hardware and control equipment that can monitor and control fiber-optic based, LED, and conventional lighting throughout the ship, using the ship’s existing communication network. RSL technology uses fiber optics to separate the light emission point from the power and light source by up to 200 meters/ 670 feet. Multiple locations can also be illuminated from a single source, and light escape, infrared, and ultraviolet are drastically reduced – offering stealth, power, durability, and maintainability advantages over traditional lighting. See this November 2005 Power Point presentation for more [PDF].
