Lockheed Martin has successfully integrated key shipboard combat system components aboard the U.S. Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship, PCU Freedom, with COMBATSS-21, the ship's core combat management system.
Key components integrated with COMBATSS-21 include the radar, gun weapon system, missile launcher, decoy launcher, and electronic warfare system.
The successful integration and testing validated Lockheed Martin's open architecture approach with both COMBATSS-21 and Freedom itself. During the integration testing, targets of opportunity were engaged and tracked to demonstrate operability.
In a separate but parallel milestone, Lockheed Martin established the Mission Package Computing Environment infrastructure and commenced integration activities on board Freedom with the ship's consoles and equipment cabinets.
"COMBATSS-21 is fully installed aboard Freedom and fully operational," said Rich Calabrese, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors' director for Mission Systems.
"The successes with COMBATSS-21 exemplify the Navy's desire for combat system commonality and improved interoperability across the surface fleet, and it represents a major milestone for the mission package concept on Freedom."
In March, Lockheed Martin completed endurance testing with COMBATSS-21 and the Mission Package Command and Control system at its land-based integration center in Moorestown, NJ. The endurance test was the latest of a series of tests and demonstrations leading up to the final software load onboard Freedom:
– In August 2007, Lockheed Martin successfully integrated the Navy-provided Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission module software with COMBATSS-21;
– In January 2008, Lockheed Martin successfully integrated the Navy-provided Mission Package Computing Environment software with shipboard equipment enclosures.
Freedom's COMBATSS-21 is a total ship combat management system, designed to deliver capability rapidly and affordably.Originally built through a high degree of reuse from the Aegis Weapon System, COMBATSS-21 is now part of a common product library that delivers to Aegis, LCS, the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program and international navies.
