The Navy and Lockheed Martin recently tested an airborne-relay sensor and networking technology that allows ships to locate and destroy threats and targets that would otherwise be beyond the radar horizon, service and industry officials said.
Called the Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, the August test involved the firing of a Standard Missile 6, or SM-6, from the USS Chancellorsville, a Navy cruiser.
An airborne sensor identifies a target beyond the horizon and networks that information into the ship’s fire control system, allowing the ship’s radar to track and destroy targets at much greater distances, Navy and Lockheed officials said.
“Initial track detections are made by the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft and are forwarded over our CEC (cooperative engagement capability) network,” a Navy official said. “The ‘from the sea’ kill chain aspect of NIFC-CA results in an SM-6 missile being launched from an Aegis ship at a contact that is located over the traditional radar horizon.”
Therefore, should things continue to develop with NIFC-CA, the technology brings the possibility of greatly extending the protective envelope surrounding ships at sea.
“Being able to take on a target that is beyond a ship’s radar horizon is very significant. That is a capability that ships did not have before,” said Jim Sheridan, a Lockheed official.
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