The Advanced Electronic Guidance and Instrumentation System (AEGIS), one of the world’s most advanced electronic defense systems, undergoes continual improvements by Lockheed Martin Corp. The firm’s Rotary and Mission Systems group (Moorestown, NY) recently received a $67,419,399 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-13-C-5116 to work on an option for AEGIS for the U.S. Navy. The contracting agency is the Naval Sea Systems Command (Washington, DC). Originally developed by RCA’s Missile and Surface Radar Division, AEGIS is an integrated naval weapons system that uses radar and other sensor technologies to track and guide missiles to destroy enemy targets.
In addition to serving a wide range of U.S. naval vessels, AEGIS is an important weapons system for many other countries, including Norway, Japan, and Spain, as well as NATO. AEGIS is installed on 10 different classes of ships (see the figure) and a total of 118 ships worldwide. The automated command-and-control (C2) weapons system is designed with capabilities to detect as well as destroy threats. It is based on high-power phased-array radar technology and can track as many as 100 targets.