Navy asks Boeing to build high-speed fiber-optic shipboard networking for Japan, South Korea destroyers
DAHLGREN, Va. – Military communications experts at the Boeing Co. will build high-speed fiber-optic shipboard networking systems for South Korea's Sejong the Great-class destroyers and Japan's Kongo-class destroyers under terms of a $15.1 million order announced Tuesday.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division in Dahlgren, Va., are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Huntington Beach, Calif., to build shipboard AN/USQ-82(V) Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex Systems (GEDMS) and spare parts.
The GEDMS network transfers inputs and outputs for the Burke-class destroyer's machinery control systems, damage control system, steering control system, Aegis combat system, navigation displays, and interior communications alarms and indicators.
Boeing designed the shipboard network to replace the mile of point-to-point cabling, signal converters, junction boxes, and switchboards that make up a conventional ship’s cabling, Navy officials say.
The GEDMS is designed to transfer data via a reliable, redundant, mission-critical network backbone aboard Navy surface warships. It is the most recent upgrade to the Navy's Data Multiplex System (DMS) networks, and offers enhanced network communication capabilities by providing an IP-based backbone that supports multimedia services such as video and data.
GEDMS increases a surface ship's capacity to support data transfer for hull, mechanical, and electrical systems. Additional benefits include manpower reduction and increased crew safety by using video and sensors for monitoring of remote or confined spaces, Boeing officials say.
In September 1989, Boeing delivered the first DMS system to the Navy for installation aboard the USS Arleigh Burke, the namesake for the DDG 51 class destroyer. As the DDG new ship construction continued, the DMS was upgraded to a Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System (FODMS) to support evolving needs.
In August 2010, the Navy replaced the copper-based DMS systems installed on the Arleigh Burke and the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) with the high-performance fiber-optic GEDMS, the latest variant in the DMS family of networks.
The manufacturer of the GEDMS fiber-optic shipboard network is Argon ST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, which acquired Argon ST in 2010 as part of the company's strategy to expand its capabilities to address the C4ISR, cyber security, and intelligence applications. Argon ST is a division of Boeing Network & Space Systems, a business of the Boeing Defense, Space & Security operating unit.
South Korean Sejong the Great-class destroyers and Japan's Kongo-class destroyers are versions of the U.S. Navy's Arleigh-Burke-class Aegis destroyer. On this order Boeing will do the work in Lemont Furnace, Pa.; as well as in Anaheim and Huntington Beach, Calif., and should be finished by October 2020.
For more information contact For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, Argon ST at www.argonst.com, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division at www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NSWC-Dahlgren.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
