Teledyne Technologies Incorporated announced that its subsidiary, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., was awarded an $18 million contract from Northrop Grumman to manufacture four additional Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) units for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
Teledyne Brown Engineering Awarded Additional $18 Million Contract for LCS Hardware
Teledyne Brown Engineering will manufacture, assemble and test the SSMMs at the company’s main facility in Huntsville, Alabama. This is Teledyne’s second award to build the hardware, which initially began under contract in September 2019. Once the systems are complete, they will be integrated with Launch Control Assemblies and other equipment into the modules. Teledyne Brown Engineering, along with Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy, will validate the system using SSMM-specific software and emulators.
The SSMM is a modular weapons system, which fires Longbow Hellfire Missiles and complements the Gun Mission Module (GMM), also manufactured by Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville. These modules provide additional capabilities to the Littoral Combat Ships which are used for defense against swarming Fast Attack Craft/Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FAC/FIAC), counter-piracy, maritime interdiction, and security missions.
«We are pleased to announce the continuation of our collaboration with Northrop Grumman to deliver state-of-the-art enhancements to our nation’s military», stated Jan Hess, President of Teledyne Brown Engineering.
Teledyne Brown Engineering has supported this program and its mission for over a decade building Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules.
The Freedom variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) conducted a live-fire missile exercise off the coast of Virginia May 11.
The Freedom variant littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) fires an AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missile during a live-fire missile exercise off the coast of Virginia, May 11, 2018. Milwaukee fired four Longbow Hellfire missiles that successfully struck fast inshore attack craft targets during a complex warfighting environment utilizing radar and other systems to track the targets (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
The Milwaukee fired four longbow hellfire missiles that successfully struck fast inshore attack craft targets.
During the evolution, the ship’s crew executed a scenario simulating a complex warfighting environment, utilized radar and other systems to track small surface targets, simulated engagements and then fired missiles against the surface targets.
«The crew of the USS Milwaukee executed superbly and the test team ran the event seamlessly, both were critical in making this event successful», said Captain Ted Zobel, LCS Mission Modules program manager.
This marks the completion of the first phase of the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) Developmental Testing (DT) for the LCS Mission Modules (MM) program. This was the first integrated firing of the SSMM from an LCS. Additionally, this was the second at-sea launch of SSMM missiles from an LCS. SSMM leverages the U.S. Army’s Longbow Hellfire Missile in a vertical launch capability to counter small boat threats. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and fielding of the SSMM is expected in 2019.
The Milwaukee, homeported at Naval Station Mayport, is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric «anti-access» threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft.
«The east coast littoral combat team continues to grow and mature with two Freedom variant LCS arriving annually in Mayport. We look forward to conducting the next phase of SSMM testing onboard USS Detroit (LCS-7)», said Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two Captain Shawn Johnston.
The ship is a modular, reconfigurable ship, designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region. An interchangeable mission package is embarked on each LCS and provides the primary mission systems in one of these warfare areas. Using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to gain, sustain, and exploit littoral maritime supremacy, LCS provides U.S. joint force access to critical areas in multiple theaters.
USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) fires a Longbow Hellfire missile during a live-fire missile exercise
Ship Design Specifications
Hull
Advanced semiplaning steel monohull
Length Overall
389 feet/118.6 m
Beam Overall
57 feet/17.5 m
Draft
13.5 feet/4.1 m
Full Load Displacement
Approximately 3,200 metric tons
Top Speed
Greater than 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h
Range at top speed
1,000 NM/1,151 miles/1,852 km
Range at cruise speed
4,000 NM/4,603 miles/7,408 km
Watercraft Launch and Recovery
Up to Sea State 4
Aircraft Launch and Recovery
Up to Sea State 5
Propulsion
Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion
Power
85 MW/113,600 horsepower
Hangar Space
Two MH-60 Romeo Helicopters
One MH-60 Romeo Helicopter and three Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (VTUAVs)
Core Crew
Less than 50
Accommodations for 75 sailors provide higher sailor quality of life than current fleet
Integrated Bridge System
Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation
Core Self-Defense Suite
Includes 3D air search radar
Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) gunfire control system
The U.S. Navy conducted a successful structural test firing of the Surface to Surface Missile Module (SSMM) from Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Detroit (LCS-7) February 28 off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia.
U.S. Navy Conducts Successful Missile Test Firing
The test marked the first launch of a missile from the SSMM from an LCS as well as the first vertical missile launched from an LCS, as part of the developmental test program for the Surface Warfare (SUW) Mission Package (MP).
«The testing aboard USS Detroit was an important milestone in advancing LCS capability, not only for the LCS community but for the entire fleet. As small boat threats proliferate, the SSMM will give our ships added lethality», said Commander Michael Desmond, Detroit’s commanding officer.
SSMM utilizes the Army Longbow Hellfire Missile in a vertical launch capability to counter small boat threats. SSMM is the next delivery of capability for the LCS SUW MP, which achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in November 2014 with delivery of the Gun Mission Module (two 30-mm guns) and the Maritime Security Module (36 feet/11 meters Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat for Visit Boarding Search and Seizure).
«This was another positive step forward in fielding of the next increment for the SUW MP», said Capt. Ted Zobel, Mission Modules program manager. «The SSMM is a critical piece of the SUW MP and this event will allow us to move safely into developmental testing and soon to fielding this capability aboard LCS».
When new or different ordnance systems are first installed on board Navy warships, a Structural Test Fire (STF) is required to determine if shipboard structures, equipment, and systems can operate satisfactorily after weapon firing and if any personnel hazards, such as toxic gas intrusion or damaging noise levels, exist during weapon firing operations. Specifically, STF verifies that the ship’s structure and equipment as well as the interfaces between ordnance and the ship are capable of withstanding the vibration, shock, noise, gases and other blast derivatives from ordnance firing. STF results will be used to evaluate and document safety requirements.
The Surface Warfare Mission Package will begin developmental testing aboard USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) later this year and will culminate in operational testing and IOC in 2018.
The littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS-7) launches a Longbow Hellfire Missile during structural test firing (STF) off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. STF is part of the developmental test program for the Surface to Surface Missile Module (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Ship Design Specifications
Hull
Advanced semiplaning steel monohull
Length Overall
389 feet/118.6 m
Beam Overall
57 feet/17.5 m
Draft
13.5 feet/4.1 m
Full Load Displacement
Approximately 3,200 metric tons
Top Speed
Greater than 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h
Range at top speed
1,000 NM/1,151 miles/1,852 km
Range at cruise speed
4,000 NM/4,603 miles/7,408 km
Watercraft Launch and Recovery
Up to Sea State 4
Aircraft Launch and Recovery
Up to Sea State 5
Propulsion
Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion
Power
85 MW/113,600 horsepower
Hangar Space
Two MH-60 Romeo Helicopters
One MH-60 Romeo Helicopter and three Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (VTUAVs)
Core Crew
Less than 50
Accommodations for 75 sailors provide higher sailor quality of life than current fleet
Integrated Bridge System
Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation
Core Self-Defense Suite
Includes 3D air search radar
Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) gunfire control system
