*Source: DTN News / Lockheed Martin
(NSI News Source Info) MARION, MA, - July 24, 2009: Lockheed Martin’s team developing a Communications at Speed and Depth (CSD) capability for U.S. Navy submarines has successfully completed the system requirements review. The capability will enable secure, two-way communications between submarines operating below periscope depth and at tactical speeds with surface ships, aircraft and land-based assets. All classes of U.S. Navy submarines will be equipped with this transformational capability. .gif)
Under the management of the Submarine Integration Program Office (PMW 770), the U.S. Navy has put in place highly-focused connectivity initiatives at the Program Executive Office for C4I and Space in San Diego, California. These efforts are addressing a broad spectrum of technology enablers, including advanced acoustic and acoustic-RF (radio frequency) communications, high-bandwidth satellite communications, and optical-fiber buoys – across all frequency bands (see Table 1) – that promise to achieve long-sought Communications at Speed and Depth (CSD) goals. And while it was in the midst of a comprehensive CSD Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) that was completed in the early fall of 2005, the Submarine Force was also pressing on with technology demonstrations that will underpin the art of the possible.
A future undersea communications network capability will enable communications among submerged submarines, Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs), and undersea sensors to multiply the effectiveness of the Submarine Force in maintaining undersea dominance. By coupling the undersea acoustic communications network with the mainstream Global Information Grid (GIG) communications infrastructure, end-to-end warfighter connectivity is enabled among surface, air, shore, submarines, other undersea platforms, and undersea sensors.
“The Submarine Communications at Speed and Depth Program extends the principles of FORCEnet below the ocean surface to provide the Submarine Fleet with two-way networked connectivity when operating at tactical depth and speed,” Navy Capt. Dean Richter, PMW 770 CSD Acquisition Program Manager, explained. “The goal of CSD is to multiply the effectiveness of submarine platforms in support of Navy, joint, and coalition warfare by enabling two-way communications and network-centric warfare while optimally engaged in the mission at hand. These increased operational capabilities will allow submarine platforms to maintain their stealth posture while supporting Special Operations Forces [SOF] and providing decisive firepower for the Joint Task Force [JTF] in the Global War on Terror [GWOT],” he noted. “Carrier and Expeditionary Strike Groups are provided with significantly enhanced protection against undersea threats with the full utilization of the superior weapons and surveillance capabilities of a submarine operating at depth in coordinated anti-submarine warfare operations to achieve undersea dominance.”
This ultimate outcome was anticipated in the “Submarine Force Future Capability Vision,” which states that “Submarines must be a part of the joint and service information networks, to include sensors and networks deployed from the submarine and off-board vehicles. Effective integration into these networks allows the submarine to share situational awareness, plan collaboratively and fight synergistically with other joint forces.” [Emphasis added.] The “Vision” calls out specific FORCEnet development goals, including “Connectivity from below periscope depth at tactically useful speeds to reduce time latency in the exchange of information for situational awareness, blue-force tracking, and target engagement.”
There are clearly strategic imperatives for effective CSD, Richter acknowledged. “CSD responds to the following critical operational goals for defense transformation as identified in the Quadrennial Defense Review Report 2001, the Secretary of Defense Transformation Planning Guidance of April 2003, and the FY 2004-2009 Defense Planning Guidance.
“The on-schedule progress of this program results from a strong government-industry team that is focused on delivering a much-needed capability to the fleet,” said Brent Starr, the Navy’s CSD principle acquisition program manager. “The system requirements review was a huge success.”
The Lockheed Martin-led industry team, which includes Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems and ERAPSCO, a joint venture between Sparton Electronics Florida, Inc. and Ultra Electronics – USSI, will deliver three types of two-way communications devices and associated submarine and shore equipment. Two of the devices – the tethered expendable communications buoy (TECB) Iridium system and the TECB–UHF system – are launched from submarines. The third is an acoustic-to-RF Gateway (A2RF) system that can be launched from submarines and aircraft.
Since the January contract award, the team has completed both the integrated baseline review and system requirements review milestones on schedule. Hardware delivery is expected in mid-2010.
“Successful on-schedule completion of the system requirements review is a major step in providing submarines the same access to communication networks as the rest of the U.S. Navy's fleet,” said Rod Reints, Lockheed Martin’s senior program manager for the CSD program. “Our team is now starting the preliminary design phase, moving us closer to our goal of providing communications at speed and depth to the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet.”
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
No comments:
Post a Comment