Boeing to support shipboard high-speed fiber-optic networking aboard Navy Burke-class destroyers

WASHINGTON – Military communications experts at the Boeing Co. will continue their support for high-speed fiber-opticshipboardnetworking for U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers under terms of an $15.9 million order announced this Tuesday.

Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in Huntington Beach, Calif., to continue support of the shipboard AN/USQ-82(V) family of shipboard networking systems.

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 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 designed this shipboard network equipment 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.

Related: Boeing to provide fiber-optic high-speed shipboard networking for three new Navy destroyers

As the AN/USQ-82(V) design agent, Boeing will provide advanced and specialized system sustainment technical engineering; cyber security enhancement; configuration management; systems development, qualification, and integration; testing; and technical support to manufacturing and repair vendors.

The AN/USQ-82(V) is being installed on new Burke-class destroyers, as well as in upgrades 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.

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) 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 remote or confined shipboard spaces, Boeing officials say.

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In September 1989, Boeing delivered the first DMS system to the Navy for installation aboard the USS Arleigh Burke, the namesake for the DDG 51 class destroyer. As the DDG new ship construction continued, the DMS was upgraded to the Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System (FODMS) to support evolving needs.

In August 2010, the Navy replaced the copper-based DMS systems installed on the Arleigh Burke and the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) with the high-performance fiber-optic AN/USQ-82(V), the latest variant in the DMS family of networks.

The manufacturer of the AN/USQ-82(V) fiber-optic shipboard network is Argon ST in Fairfax, Va., a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing, which acquired Argon ST in 2010 to expand capabilities in C4ISR, cyber security, and intelligence.

This contract includes options that could bring its value to $82.4 million. Boeing will do the work in Huntington Beach, Calif.; Arlington, Va.; Pascagoula, Miss.; Bath, Maine; Seattle; and Philadelphia, and should be finished by May 2019. Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at paste link here, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, Argon ST at www.argonst.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.

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