DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U. S. Navy Validates New Navigation Capability For DDG 1000

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: U. S. Navy Validates New Navigation Capability For DDG 1000

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Raytheon

(NSI News Source Info) TEWKSBURY, Mass., - January 26, 2011: The U.S. Navy achieved a critical milestone with the successful testing of the Next Generation Navigation System (NAVDDX) produced by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), prime contractor for mission systems equipment for the DDG 1000-class destroyer.

NAVDDX is a modern open architecture solution for distributing navigation and high-precision time data to ship mission systems. The open architecture design provides the flexibility and commonality to be easily integrated into the DDG 1000 class and other ship platforms, including new construction and modernization programs.

System development was a highly successful joint effort between Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) and the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif., through a private party sales agreement.

"This is another example of the rigorous testing strategy that is built into the DDG 1000 development program," said Raytheon IDS' Bill Marcley, vice president of Total Ship Mission Systems and DDG 1000 program manager. "With each milestone, we continue our progress toward delivering proven and reliable capabilities to the sailors of the U.S. Navy fleet."

"NAVDDX is the product of a successful government-industry partnership," said Pete Shaw, deputy, Marine Navigation Division, Space and Naval Warfare System Command. "Together, we are delivering the most advanced, mission-critical combat-support positioning, navigation and timing system available today."

The DDG 1000-class destroyer is the latest evolution in warfighting technology for surface combatant ships, providing unmatched capability to the U.S. Navy. The DDG 1000-class destroyer's advancements can be incorporated into future and modernized platforms. The benefits of DDG 1000's systems reuse potential across the fleet are already being realized, including the application of the Dual Band Radar for the new Ford-class aircraft carrier (CVN 78) as well as the application of the Total Ship Computing Environment infrastructure for the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and USS San Antonio (LPD 17) technology refresh efforts. The systems and software engineering approach used on DDG 1000 yields an open architecture well suited for capability enhancements to counter emerging threats.

Work on this system is performed at Raytheon IDS' Expeditionary Warfare Center, San Diego, Calif., and at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific facilities in San Diego.

Raytheon Company, with 2009 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 88 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 75,000 people worldwide.

Contact:
Carolyn Beaudry
401.842.3550

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com

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DTN News: Pentagon Sees No Big Change In Weapons Spending

DTN News: Pentagon Sees No Big Change In Weapons Spending

* Sees possible gradual decline in procurement spending

* Favors fixed-price contracts

Source: DTN News / Reuters By Andrea Shalal-Esa

(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, - June 11, 2010: U.S. defense spending to develop and buy new weapons systems is not expected to drop dramatically in coming years, but a gradual drawdown may occur, the Pentagon's No. 2 acquisition official said on Thursday. Frank Kendall, principal deputy undersecretary for acquisition and technology, said the Defense Department was keenly focused on reforming its acquisition process and making it more efficient, getting more for the money it spends, increasing oversight and reducing risk on new programs. Kendall said he did not foresee a major new consolidation in the industry like that of the mid-1990s after the Cold War ended, but said some consolidation was part of the "natural course of events." Mounting pressure on the defense budget could lead to some gradual decline in weapons research and development and procurement, commonly known as the Pentagon's investment accounts, Kendall told a conference hosted by Swiss bank Credit Suisse and Virginia-based defense consultant Jim McAleese. "We're going to see possibly some gradual drawdown in the investment accounts," he said. "For the near term, I do not see a dramatic change." Big defense companies are waiting for clues about the Pentagon's fiscal 2012 budget, which is being drafted now. Kendall said the Pentagon was using tighter oversight to get a handle on programs, and in some cases could begin the live-or-die reviews mandated under the federal Nunn-McCurdy law ahead of schedule. He said the reviews were useful but needed to occur earlier, before programs were in deep trouble. The department last week certified to Congress that six big weapons programs whose projected costs had risen by more than 50 percent over initial estimates -- including the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35 Joint Strike Fighter -- needed to continue for national security reasons. He said he favors greater use of fixed-price contracts but cautioned they were not a panacea to fix Pentagon procurement problems and needed to be structured properly to succeed. Kendall said eight program cancellations unveiled by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as part of the fiscal 2010 budget, including the DDG-1000 destroyer and the Army's Future Combat Systems modernization program, targeted developmental programs the department could not afford in the longer term. As budget planners looked to the future, they realized there was just "too much stuff in the pipeline" and some programs needed to be eliminated, he said. Kendall said he hoped to avoid similar decisions in the future by ensuring that programs -- and their longer-term costs -- were well thought out and structured before billions of dollars were spent. Representative Adam Smith, who heads the air/land subcommittee of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said Congress was also focused on addressing what he called "significant challenges" in the Pentagon acquisition reforms. He said he favored freeing up funding for quick acquisition of specific technologies to aid troops now, but said he remained concerned about bigger programs like the Lockheed F-35, the Air Force's refueling tanker competition, and Army modernization after cancellation of the Future Combat Systems program. Clearly, the Pentagon can no longer afford "shoot-for-the-moon" weapons programs and must focus on more realistic, quicker and flexible solutions to military needs, he said. Lawmakers were worried whether the Lockheed F-35 would work as intended, and within its intended timeframe, but Smith acknowledged that any decision now to curtail the size of the program could drive up the cost of each fighter jet, and might jeopardize future sales to international partners. If the program missed more key schedule milestones, "we've got some very, very hard decisions," he said. Given all the problems thus far with the F-35, he also questioned the wisdom of the Obama administration's insistence on scrapping a second engine for the F-35 that is being developed by General Electric Co (GE.N) and Britain's Rolls Royce (RR.L) as an alternative to one built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N). He said Congress and the administration had different views on whether the second engine would save money in the long run, and Congress was reaching out to the White House to step back from its threat to veto the fiscal 2011 defense spending bill if it includes funding for the GE-Rolls Royce engine. "The debate is, what is the best way to save money," Smith said, noting that he strongly backs Gates' reform efforts, and cancellation of the Boeing Co (BA.N) C-17 transport plane, although he represents Washington state, where Boeing has large manufacturing facilities.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; editing by John Wallace)