Lockheed Martin awarded $76.7M for AEGIS development, test sites

By Allen Cone

June 20 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $76.7 million contract for operation and maintenance of AEGIS missile system development and test sites for the U.S. Navy, Missile Defense Agency, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Norway.

Work by Lockheed's Rotary and Mission Systems is for the Combat Systems Engineering Development Site, SPY-1A Test Facility and Naval Systems Computing Center in Moorestown, N.J., the Defense Department announced Wednesday.

This option exercise includes continued technical engineering, configuration management, associated equipment/supplies, quality assurance, information assurance, and other operation and maintenance efforts required for the AEGIS development and test sites.

This option also includes work on upgrades for the Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers, designated as CG-47, and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, designated as DDG-51, through the completion of Advanced Capability Build 20 and Technology Insertion 16.

Work is expected to be complete by June 2020.

This contract modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy at 34.7 percent, Missile Defense Agency at 22.7 percent, and the governments of Japan at 34.4 percent, Australia at 4.7 percent, South Korea at 2.1 percent and Norway at 1.4 percent under the foreign military sales program.

Funding in the amount of $29.7 million has been obligated at time of award and funding in the amount of $4.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Besides foreign military sales, funding will come from the Navy's fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion; fiscal 2019 Navy operation and maintenance; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation as well as MDA fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation and fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance.

The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense system is the naval component of the Missile Defense Agency's BMD system, providing warships with the capability of intercepting and destroying short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

As of October 2017, there are 33 ships with the AEGIS system, 17 are assigned to the Pacific Fleet and 16 to the Atlantic Fleet.

Japan has four destroyers that have been upgraded with AEGIS BMD operational capabilities.

The first deployment of European capabilities came on March 7, 2011, aboard the USS Monterey.

AEGIS Ashore is the land-based component of the system. The deckhouse and launchers are designed to be nearly identical to the version installed aboard U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/06/20/Lockheed-Martin-awarded-767M-for-AEGIS-development-test-sites/3571561038521/