The officer in charge of the US Navy's (USN's) DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer restart programme said on 17 May that the navy is examining directed energy weapons for possible inclusion on future ships.
"I can tell you we're looking intently at things like LaWS [Laser Weapon System] and the next generation of LawS, for a directed energy weapon," Captain Mark Vandroff said during a briefing at the Navy League's 2016 Sea-Air-Space symposium in National Harbor, Maryland. A technical feasibility study is ongoing, he confirmed to IHS Jane's .
The U.S. Navy will get a peek at a future where high energy laser weapons could defend its ships against attack under a contract awarded Oct. 22 to Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
Under the three-phase Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) contract, the company will design, produce, integrate, and support the shipboard testing of a 150-kilowatt-class solid state (electric) laser weapon system.
The initial award of $53 million will support work planned for the next 12 months. The contract could grow to a total value of $91 million over 34 months if ONR exercises all of its contract options.
"Northrop Grumman is integrating the latest in high energy lasers with more than 40 years of experience as a laser weapon system integrator to protect sailors against last-minute, high impact threats," said Guy Renard, director and program manager, directed energy, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "For about the price of a gallon of diesel fuel per shot, we're offering the Navy a high-precision defensive approach that will protect not only its sailors, but also its wallet."
During Phase 1 of the LWSD contract, Northrop Grumman will develop a detailed design for the new system. Phase 2 will include assembly and ground test of the system, while Phase 3 will comprise at-sea testing of the system aboard the Navy's Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS). The Navy will lead this testing with Northrop Grumman providing technical support. The SDTS is the former USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964).
Gulf shipbuilders gained a new amphibious ship late Friday, and the US Navy has agreed to add a destroyer at a key Maine shipyard. The moves reflect the resolution of a long-standing “hull swap agreement” involving the ships and the Navy’s two biggest shipbuilders.
Huntington Ingalls Industries received a $200 million not-to-exceed undefinitized contract action (or UCA) to order long-lead time material and perform design work on LPD 28, a yet-to-be-named 12th ship in the LPD 17 San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships. The ship, which the Navy did not request, was added by Congress to increase the fleet’s amphibious fleet and better meet US Marine Corps requirements.
The total cost of a “fully-scoped” LPD 28 is expected to be around $2.023 billion, the Navy said last year.
As a result of the award, General Dynamics will receive another DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer beyond the batch already on order.
The Navy and two shipbuilders are moving forward with the Flight III upgrade to the Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers (DDG-51), which adds an air and missile defense radar to the ship class starting this fiscal year.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Ingalls Shipbuilding are collaborating on detail design of the Flight III upgrade, which should be complete by the summer of 2017, and both have responded to the Navy’s draft request for proposals (RFP) for Fiscal Year 2016 ship construction, DDG-51 program manager Capt. Mark Vandroff told USNI News in a Nov. 12 interview.
The two yards have taken the Navy’s preliminary design for Flight III, which was broken into 17 individual statements of work, and are working together to develop a 3D model of the ship that includes all equipment and distributed systems.
“We always planned to complete that some time in the late summer of 2017 because a ship that’s appropriated in FY ’16 generally spends about a year [procuring materials],” Vandroff said.
“A typical FY ‘16 ship wouldn’t start until the later part of 2017, and we would want the detail design to be done about the same time.”
The Navy is considering a range of potential technological upgrades for its fleet of DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to give the ships next-generation weapons, greater fuel efficiency and a reduced radar signature, service officials said.
The Navy currently has 62 DDG 51s currently in service and six Flight IIA-model destroyers under construction. The service plans to potentially build as many as 22 next-generation Flight III DDG 51s, said Capt. Mark Vandroff, DDG 51 program manager.
Laser weapons and electromagnetic rail guns are among some of the upgrades being considered for the Navy’s fleet of destroyers, Vandroff explained.
