LockMartin Upgrades Ship Defense System On Turkish Navy Frigates

LockMartin Upgrades Ship Defense System On Turkish Navy Frigates

(NSI News Source Info) February 19, 2009: The U.S. Navy recently awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to upgrade the MK 92 Fire Control System on Turkey's G-class guided missile frigates. The system upgrade will support the introduction of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), providing enhanced self-protection capabilities for this class of surface warships. G class is one of the frigate classes of the Turkish Navy. They are heavily modernized and modified versions of ex-Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigates, mainly designed for air defense with a weapons configuration that is optimized for general warfare. A total of eight G-class frigates are currently operated by the Turkish Navy. They are named as TCG Gaziantep (F 490), TCG Giresun (F 491), TCG Gemlik (F 492), TCG Gelibolu (F 493), TCG Gökçeada (F 494), TCG Gediz (F 495), TCG Gökova (F 496) and TCG Göksu (F 497). G class frigates have undergone an indegenous (Turkish designed and manufactured)modernisation prgram named the GENESIS (Gemi Entegre Savaş İdare Sistemi) advanced combat management system, The first GENESIS upgraded ship was delivered in 2007, and the last delivery is scheduled for 2011. The GENESIS advanced combat management system includes the following characteristics and abilities:

*A modern and reliable system; *High performance; *Open architecture; *Capacity of watching more than 1,000 tactical targets; *Modern digital sensor data fusion; *Automatic threat evaluation; *Weapon engagement opportunities; *Link-16/22 system integration The modernization program also includes (but is not limited to): (1) the addition of an 8-cell Mk-41 VLS for Evolved Sea Sparrow, including the upgrade of the Mk 92 Fire control system by Lockheed Martin Inc. (2) the retrofitting of a new advanced 3D air search radar (3) The addition of a new long range sonar. The Mk-41 VLS will be fitted in front of the Mk.13 launchers, similar to the Adelaide class frigates. The "short hull" ex-Perry class frigates that are currently being operated by the Turkish Navy were modified with the ASIST landing platform system at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard, so that they can accommodate the S-70B Seahawk helicopters. The MK 92 system, originally developed by Lockheed Martin, provides integrated X-band radar surveillance, target tracking and weapon fire control capability for naval gun and missile systems. Under the new Navy contract, Lockheed Martin will design, develop and integrate modifications necessary to support the new missile capability. "The MK 92 upgrade represents the first U.S. Navy-sponsored sale of our solid-state continuous wave illumination transmitter to support ESSM deployment by navies around the world," said Stan Ozga, Lockheed Martin's director for Naval Radar Programs. "Building on our successes with systems already in use by Norway and Australia, Lockheed Martin will deliver, with this latest variant, a major improvement to the guided missile frigate anti-air warfare capability and continue more than two decades of support to the operational needs of the Turkish Navy." The upgrade, when combined with Lockheed Martin's MK41 Vertical Launching System, will allow increased self defense capacity through the MK25 Quadpack canister allowing four ESSMs to be loaded in each MK41 cell, resulting in enhanced self-protection capabilities for this class of surface warships. ESSM is a medium range quick reaction missile designed to defeat stressing anti ship cruise missiles. More than 125 shipboard MK 92 systems have been produced and deployed with nine different navies around the world. It has been installed on more than 70 guided missile frigates, as well as on a variety of other surface ships including coast guard cutters, corvettes and fast attack craft.