Navy taps DRS Laurel for fiber optic shipboard networking and communications aboard Burke-class destroyers
WASHINGTON – Military communications experts at the DRS Laurel Technologies segment of Leonardo DRS in Johnstown, Pa., will build Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplexing System (GEDMS) shipsets for new-construction U.S. Navy Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers and shore sites under terms of a $23.8 million order announced Monday.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking contract manufacturer DRS Laurel for GEDMS shipsets for new Burke-class destroyers, and land-based test sites for the Royal Australian Navy and Canadian Surface Combatant programs.
The AN/USQ-82(V) family consists of the Data Multiplex System (DMS), the Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System (FODMS), and Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS).
The AN/USQ-82(V) family of shipboard networking equipment transfers inputs and outputs for a surface warship's machinery control systems, damage-control system, steering control system, Aegis combat system, navigation displays, and interior communications alarms and indicators.
The order to DRS Laurel includes input output modules for planned software upgrades to core 2022; and a software and firmware update that addresses system bugs and resolves cyber security issues.
The the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Huntington Beach, Calif., is the original equipment manufacturer of the AN/USQ-82(V) family of shipboard networking equipment, which Boeing designed to replace the one-mile-long point-to-point cabling, signal converters, junction boxes, and switchboards that make up a conventional ship’s cabling, Navy officials say.
The AN/USQ-82(V) is being installed on U.S. Navy Burke-class destroyers, as well as in upgrades to flight I/II Burke-class destroyers and to flight IIA Burke-class destroyers.
Surface warships with similar capabilities and data-throughput requirements to the Burke-class destroyer are Japan's Kongo-class guided-missile destroyers; Korea's Sejong the Great-class destroyers; Australia's Hobart-class air-warfare destroyers; and Canada's future Surface Combatant.
The AN/USQ-82(V) 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.
AN/USQ-82(V) offers manpower reduction and increased crew safety by using video and sensors for monitoring remote or confined shipboard spaces, Boeing officials say.
On this order DRS Laurel will do the work in Johnstown, Pa., and should be finished by August 2025. For more information contact DRS Laurel Technologies online at www.leonardodrs.com/locations/naval-electronics-laurel-technologies-johnstown-pa, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
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.
