Washington Business Journal:
As Lockheed Martin Corp. continues to outfit U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers with its newest combat system suite, the company sees an opportunity to expand to other ships.
In particular, the company would like to put its signature Aegis Combat System on the next San Antonio-class landing platform/dock, the LPD-28, currently under contract to be built by Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries.
“From where I sit, it just makes a lot of sense,” Jim Sheridan, Lockheed’s director of Aegis U.S. Navy programs, told me.
The Aegis Combat System is the collection of radars, sonars, launch systems, and weapon control systems found on Naval cruisers and destroyers. It is responsible for searching, detecting, tracking and engaging enemy ships, submarines, aircraft and missiles at sea. It is currently outfitted to 62 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and another 22 cruisers.
The most recent iteration of the Aegis is the so-called “Baseline 9” configuration, which in addition to updating existing systems adds a ballistic missile defense capability and an ability to detect and engage threats “over the horizon.” Lockheed has modernized five destroyers and three cruisers thus far and has plans to outfit two to three more ships a year depending on budget outlays.
There is also a version of the system being deployed on land called the Aegis Ashore system. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is working right now to install them inRomania and Poland to protect against potential ballistic missile threats.
Aegis is already present on many platforms and Lockheed (NYSE: LMT) wants to expand its footprint…
