Navy asks Boeing and DRS to provide Ethernet ship network equipment for Burke-class destroyers
WASHINGTON – U.S. Navy shipboard electronics experts are asking two U.S. defense contractors to provide high-speed Ethernet fiber-optic shipnetwork equipment installation and repair for the latest versions of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Huntington Beach, Calif., and the DRS Laurel Technologies segment of Leonardo DRS in Johnstown, Pa., for the shipboard networking work related to the AN/USQ-82(V) Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS) shipboard network for the Burke-class destroyer modernization program.
Boeing and DRS will provide AN/USQ-82(V) GEDMS ship set hardware, spare parts and installation and checkout repair in contracts announced Wednesday. The contract includes Burke-class destroyer work for the Burke-class destroyer new construction program, foreign military sales to Korea and Japan, the amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8), and Aegis Ashore program.
The GEDMS variant of the AN/USQ-82(V) delivers technologically-refreshed IC data network, which enables critical and real-time control system communications throughout the DDG 51-class destroyer, Navy officials say.
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's contract is worth $6.9 million initially and with options ultimately could be worth $116.5 million. The DRS contract is worth $8.3 million initially and with options could be worth $76.2 million.
The network is designed 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 will be installed on new Burke-class destroyers, as well as part of upgrades to back-fitted to 27 flight I/II Burke-class destroyers hull numbers 51 to 78, and to 28 flight IIA Burke-class destroyers hull numbers 79 to 107.
GEDMS increases a surface ship's capacity to support data transfer for the Burke-class destroyer's latest upgraded 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.
On these contracts Boeing will do its work in Huntington Beach, Calif., and DRS will do its work in Johnstown, Pa. Both companies should be finished by December 2023. The manufacturer of the GEDMS fiber-optic shipboard network is Argon ST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing.
For more information contact For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, Argon ST, a Boeing company, at www.argonst.com, DRS Laurel Technologies at www.drs.com/locations/drs-laurel-technologies-johnstown-pa, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
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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.
