Navy Drops Advanced Radar From Aegis Upgrade

Photo: DoD

Oct 13, 2011 By Michael Fabey - aerospace daily and defense report

U.S. budget woes have claimed another victim — the required integration of the U.S. Navy’s proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) with its next planned Aegis combat system upgrade.

The Navy is removing the engineering requirements to include its proposed AMDR as a “price competition line item” in the request for proposals (RFP) for the next round of Aegis capability upgrades, known as Advanced Capabilities Build (ACB) 16.

Instead, the AMDR integration engineering “load” requirement will become a “sample problem,” the Navy says. A sample problem, according to those familiar with the proposal, will carry much less weight in the final award decision than a competition line item requirement.

The move is being made, the Navy says, “to account for a reduction in the capabilities/requirements in ACB 16 to align with the latest set of Navy requirements.”

Those familiar with the program say the Navy needed to make the change to better align ACB 16 with budgets. The service had to reduce the scope of the program to be able to afford it.

Navy officials say they have no further comment on the changes at this time. The service anticipates releasing the new RFP amendment Oct. 21.

Lockheed Martin, which is the legacy Aegis prime contractor and is competing for ACB 16, had no comment. A spokesperson from Raytheon, another competitor, says, “We are aware of pending changes to the Aegis RFP and remain committed to delivering a competitive proposal.”

ACB 16 is the planned set of improvements for the vaunted ship shield that would allow it to incorporate advanced technology. The Navy had earlier decided to skip the planned ACB 12 upgrades to address budgetary concerns and to obtain better equipment and software.

One of the core requirements for ACB 16 was supposed to be the inclusion of the AMDR, the Navy’s proposed futuristic radar system that is meant to seamlessly combine ship defense technology with ballistic missile defense (BMD).

AMDR will cost an estimated $15.7 billion to develop and procure, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The Navy says it needs the program to defend its ships against the latest maritime threats while performing BMD, which has become a major mission for the service.

Indeed, U.S. Navy BMD is the cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense in Europe, and the U.S. is taking significant steps to bolster its Aegis-equipped fleet to meet those mission needs.

The Navy is restarting the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer production line to deploy additional Aegis-equipped vessels more quickly and affordably.