MOORESTOWN, N.J., Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The global
Aegis fleet will expand in the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea under a
$490 million deal with Lockheed
Martin (NYSE: LMT) to bring integrated air and missile defense
(IAMD) capabilities to new destroyers.
The ships will be equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, the latest
evolution of the combat system, capable of IAMD. The Aegis system
includes Lockheed Martin's SPY-1 radar, the Navy's most advanced
multi-function radar system. When paired with the MK 41 Vertical
Launching System, it is capable of delivering missiles for every
mission and threat environment in naval warfare.
"Lockheed Martin has a proud record of working hand-in-hand with
the U.S. Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces and the
Republic of Korea Navy," said Jim
Sheridan, director of Lockheed Martin Aegis U.S. Navy
programs. "We will continue the Lockheed Martin tradition of
providing Aegis on-time and on-budget so these destroyers are
prepared to meet the evolving demands of securing the U.S. homeland
and its allies."
This contract comes on the heels of a successful joint-missile
defense exercise in June in which Aegis destroyers from the three
nations shared data while detecting and tracking a simulated
missile threat.
Under this new production hardware contract, Lockheed Martin
will expand the Aegis fleet in the U.S. Navy and in:
- Japan: The seventh and
eighth Aegis ships will join Japan's fleet. Aegis provides four of
Japan's Kongo-class destroyers and
two Atago-class destroyers with advanced sea, air and undersea
threat detection capabilities. The Self Defense Forces of
Japan joined the Aegis family in
1993.
- Republic of Korea (RoK): Aegis will join the next three
KDX-III Sejong the Great Class destroyers, a multi-purpose
destroyer with air and land defense and anti-submarine
capabilities. Aegis is aboard three KDX-III destroyers: RoK Sejong
the Great, RoK Yulgok Yi I and RoK Seoae Ryu Sungryong, which are
the largest surface warfare ships to carry Aegis.
The Republic of Korea joined the
international Aegis fleet in 2008, when the navy commissioned the
first ship of the class, Sejong the Great.
As the Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent, Lockheed Martin
continues to develop new Aegis capabilities and find innovative
ways to deploy them across the more than 100 ships in the U.S. and
international Aegis Fleets. This innovation is possible in part due
to the open architecture of the Aegis Combat System and the Common
Source Library, which allows engineers to integrate new systems and
capabilities across baselines, as well as affordably distribute the
upgrades throughout the fleet in a "build once, use many times"
design philosophy.
With more than 40 years of significant investment by the U.S.
Navy and its allies, the Aegis Combat System is used globally by
six navies. In addition to the U.S., Japan, and the Republic of Korea, Aegis is the
maritime weapon system of choice for Australia, Norway and Spain.
For additional information, visit our website:
www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/aegis.html
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin