The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a $7 million contract to deliver a study for a proven, integrated and capable payload ship that will be able to patrol for extended durations, under the U.S. Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) competition, Lockheed Martin reported on Thursday.
“The Lockheed Martin team brings together nearly 200 years of combined experience in shipbuilding, integration, automation and autonomy,” said Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of Small Combatants and Ship Systems for Lockheed Martin. “Our team is energized by and focused on delivering the Navy what they’ve asked for – a design for an affordable, low-risk ship capable of bringing the Navy’s Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) vision to life.”
As prime contractor, Lockheed Martin will manage the program, deliver platform integration, systems engineering, combat management, automation and cyber solutions. Lockheed Martin has partnered with Vigor Works, who will serve as the shipbuilder.
The company’s design will use a proven commercial ship that will be augmented with automation, autonomy and cybersecurity elements to house a payload. The design will leverage Lockheed Martin’s autonomy and automation experience, including the proven platform-agnostic Sikorsky MATRIX technology and AXIS control technology.
Sikorsky MATRIX has been used to fly a helicopter from a wireless tablet. AXIS control technology has been used in more than half of the U.S. Navy surface ships to manage engineering and machinery controls.
“We are honored to be part of the Lockheed Martin team and to leverage our extensive fabrication expertise, including previously building 16 USVs of various designs and sizes,” said Richard McCreary, Vigor vice president of Business Development. “We are ready to deliver a concept design that will help the Navy deploy a safe, efficient and affordable LUSV fleet for the future.”
Lockheed Martin will deliver the study within 12 months in advance of the next phase of the competition, the Navy’s LUSV Detailed Design & Construction competition.
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James Geurts, Assistant Secretary for Research, Development, and Acquisition with the U.S. Navy and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient will serve as a keynote speaker during the event. Geurts will discuss how the U.S. Navy has continually worked to decentralize, differentialize and digitize the service branch’s work as well as develop its talent in the field.
The Navy has also accelerated acquisition channels, modernized emerging technologies and increased research and development to become more effective in warfare. As the Navy continues to evolve to meet the growing demands, challenges still remain.
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