Electronic warfare (EW) designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. needed RF and microwave antennas for the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) shipboard EW system that Lockheed Martin is building for U.S. Navy surface warships. They found their solution from Cobham Integrated Electronic Solutions in Lansdale, Pa.
Officials of the Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training segment in Liverpool, N.Y., have awarded Cobham a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract to provide antenna array panel assemblies (AAPAs) for SEWIP Block 2.
"Cobham's interferometer-based array technology greatly enhances the SEWIP Block II program's detection and reporting accuracy against modern threat systems and improves overall shipboard combat effectiveness," says Jim Barber, senior vice president and general manager of Cobham Integrated Electronic Solutions.
The SEWIP program upgrades existing out-of-production AN/SLQ-32(V) shipboard EW systems by improving the receiver and antenna group to meet current and anticipated threats, as well as to yield improved system integration, Navy officials say.
Block II is the latest improvement phase the Navy is pursuing for SEWIP, which will incrementally add new defensive technologies and capabilities like improved electronic support receivers and combat system interfaces, Cobham officials say. SEWIP provides enhanced shipboard electronic warfare for early detection, analysis, threat warning, and protection from anti-ship missiles.
The Lockheed Martin Block 2 SEWIP design is based on the company's integrated common electronics warfare system (ICEWS), which enables rapid reconfiguring of the system with commercial technology. Lockheed won a Navy award for SEWIP Block 2 in late 2009, and a contract in 2013 to build advanced-development prototypes of the SEWIP Block 2 system.
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Cobham Integrated Electronic Solutions online at www.cobham.com.
