Kollmorgen gets another contract to provide sensor masts for U.S. Navy submarines

WASHINGTON, 4 Jan. 2011. Kollmorgen Electro-Optical in Northampton, Mass., will provide the U.S. Navy with five Universal Modular Mast (UMM) systems for submarines under terms of a $14.7 million contract modification announced Monday by U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington. It is the second multimillion-dollar Navy order to Kollmorgen for submarine sensor masts within a week's time.

The UMM, built by Kollmorgen Electro-Optical and Kollmorgen's Italian subsidiary Calzoni SrL in Bologna, Italy, is a non-hull penetrating mast for Navy Virginia-class fast-attack submarines and Ohio-class guided missile submarines. Last week Kollmorgen won a $41.2 million contract to provide Naval Sea Systems Command with eight AN/BVS-1 photonics mast systems for Virginia-class submarines.

The UMM can host five different sensor configurations: the photonics mast, the multi-function mast, the integrated electronic mast, the high-data-rate-mast, and the photonics mast variant. The Kollmorgen UMM is standard equipment for above water sensors on U.S. and international submarines. The guided-missile submarine is an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine variant converted to launch cruise missiles.

The UMM is a two-stage, non-hull-penetrating, telescoping submarine mast that hoists a variety of different sensors. The Navy's Virginia-class attack subs each have a bank of eight of these sensor masts, while the Ohio-class cruise missile subs each have banks of four UMMs.

On the current contract, Kollmorgen will do the work in Bologna, Italy; and Northampton, Mass., and should be finished by March 2013. For more information contact Kollmorgen Electro-Optical online at www.eo.kollmorgen.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.