Progeny Systems to enhance and upgrade Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) planning system
WASHINGTON, 2 April 2014. Systems integrators at Progeny Systems Corp. in Manassas, Va., will continue upgrading and enhancing a U.S. Navy decision-support system designed to help Navy commanders plan attacks on enemy submarines.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington announced a $9.6 million contract to Progeny late Tuesday for engineering and technical services for the AN/UYQ-100 Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS). The contract has options that would increase its value to $55.6 million.
The AN/UYQ-100 provides network-centric capability that enables Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) commanders to plan and coordinate destroyer and aircraft carrier operations against enemy submarines. The system enables commanders to establish and maintain a common tactical picture and execute tactical control, Navy officials say.
The USW-DSS installs decision-making tools as software on computers aboard destroyers, aircraft carriers, and shore installations. It enables commanders to share key tactical data among ASW ships, aircraft, and shore sites in near real-time, and is the only Navy program of record that provides an undersea warfare common tactical picture, Navy officials say.
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The USW-DSS complements and provides an interface with common operational picture systems such as the Global Command and Control System-Maritime (GCCS-M), as well as Link 11 and Link 16 tactical data links.
When the AN/UYQ-100 is deployed on destroyers, the Navy's surface ship ASW combat system AN/SQQ-89 provides ship, sensor, and track data to USW-DSS. The CVN Tactical Support System (CV-TSC) provides this data when the system is installed on carriers.
These data sources enable USW-DSS to generate and share a composite track picture that enables ASW ships and aircraft to share weapons control. The systems's decision-support tools operate on existing shipboard computers and communications links.
The system's latest iteration, USW-DSS advanced capability build 2 (ACB-2) release 3 (B2R3) completed initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in 2013. So far the USW-DSS has been delivered to 35 surface warships and aircraft carriers, and is operational at three shore commands and five training sites.
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The latest system uses the Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES) computers and is installed as software. The AN/UYQ-100 has been operational with the fleet since 2010, and through 2019 Navy leaders plan to install the system on 65 ships and shore sites.
On Tuesday's contract, Progeny Systems will do the work in Manassas, Va.; Patuxent River, Md.; Gig Harbor, Wash.; Middletown, R.I.; Norfolk, Va.; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and should be finished by March 2015.
For more information contact Progeny Systems online at www.progeny.net, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
