Navy asks VersaLogic to supply Ethernet cards for shipboard vertical-launch missile system
PORT HUENEME, Calif., 14 May 2013. U.S. Navy surface warfare experts needed Ethernet circuit cards for the launch sequencer in the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS). They found their solution from VersaLogic Corp. in Tualatin, Ore.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Port Hueneme Division in Port Hueneme, Calif., have announced their intention to award a sole-source contract to VersaLogic for 226 of the company's EPM-NET-100 high-speed Ethernet + Flash and DUAL SPEED Ethernet + Flash expansion for PC/104-Plus embedded computing systems.
The Navy is buying the Ethernet cards sole-source from VersaLogic because the company is the only source that can provide this Ethernet interface for the Vertical Launch System, Navy officials say. The value of the contract has yet to be negotiated.
NSWC Port Hueneme is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the weapon systems aboard Navy surface combatants.
VersaLogic is the original manufacturer of these cards, holds proprietary rights, and is the only source that can provide them in the necessary configurations to support this Weapons System due to form, fit, and functional specifications, officials say.
The Mk 41 VLS is a shipborne missile canister launching system for rapid-fire missile launch from surface warships. It can fire the Standard 1, 2, 3, and 6 missiles; Tomahawk cruise missile; RUR-5 ASROC, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, and RIM-162 ESSM missiles.
The missiles are pre-loaded into VLS canisters that are loaded into the individual cells of the launcher, which are fitted to ships in modules that share a common exhaust system.
The VersaLogic EPM-NET-100 Ethernet cards, which are nearing the end of their production phase and are not recommended for new designs, supports 10BaseT and 100 BaseTX high-speed Ethernet, has the 32-pin DiskOnChip 2000, offers the PC/104-Plus PCI interface, has a 12K Ethernet transmit and receive data buffer, and a remote boot Ethernet option.
The EPM-NET-100 module also provides a socketed DiskOnChip site for Flash File Systems, with nonvolatile solid state memory. The module features high reliability design and construction, along with environmental stress screening and functional testing.
For more information contact VersaLogic online at http://versalogic.com, or the NSWC Port Hueneme Division at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/porthueneme.
