WASHINGTON - The Navy has taken delivery of the last piece of the Littoral Combat Ship’s anti-submarine warfare mission module, according to a media release from the Naval Sea Systems Command. The delivery means that the sea-service is closer to declaring the mission module operational. Raytheon’s Dual-mode Array Transmitter (DART) Mission System, which joins the MH-60R helicopter, the Multi-Function Towed Array and the SQQ-89 acoustic processing, the Navy has the complete ASuW package, and is ready to integrate and test it. The package “will provide revolutionary capabilities to the fleet,” Capt. Ted Zobel, LCS Mission Module program manager, said in the media release. The Navy will now send DART to one of the East Coast-based LCS for work at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, located about 180 nautical miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., prior to former developmental testing on USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), according to the release. But the future of the mission module remains uncertain. Congress slashed funding for ASuW for FY 2019, which means testing delays will probably follow, sources told Defense News in September. But, Congress continues to buy ships beyond the Navy’s 32-ship requirement. (Source: Defense News 12/05/18) Mayport, Fla.- based LCS are of the Freedom variant. Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., builds the Independence variant and are based on the West Coast.
Shipbuilding and maritime related news from the Central Gulf Coast region
Thursday, December 6, 2018
LCS’ ASuW package delivered
WASHINGTON - The Navy has taken delivery of the last piece of the Littoral Combat Ship’s anti-submarine warfare mission module, according to a media release from the Naval Sea Systems Command. The delivery means that the sea-service is closer to declaring the mission module operational. Raytheon’s Dual-mode Array Transmitter (DART) Mission System, which joins the MH-60R helicopter, the Multi-Function Towed Array and the SQQ-89 acoustic processing, the Navy has the complete ASuW package, and is ready to integrate and test it. The package “will provide revolutionary capabilities to the fleet,” Capt. Ted Zobel, LCS Mission Module program manager, said in the media release. The Navy will now send DART to one of the East Coast-based LCS for work at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, located about 180 nautical miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., prior to former developmental testing on USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), according to the release. But the future of the mission module remains uncertain. Congress slashed funding for ASuW for FY 2019, which means testing delays will probably follow, sources told Defense News in September. But, Congress continues to buy ships beyond the Navy’s 32-ship requirement. (Source: Defense News 12/05/18) Mayport, Fla.- based LCS are of the Freedom variant. Austal USA of Mobile, Ala., builds the Independence variant and are based on the West Coast.
