“The
Lockheed Martin team has successfully brought Aegis to life,”
said Rob Milligan, Lockheed Martin Australia, surface ships program
lead. “Our team is dedicated to ensuring the successful delivery
of HOBART’s Aegis capability to the Royal Australian Navy.”
Lockheed Martin anticipated the need for the future Australian domestic
sustainment of Aegis on AWD several years prior to this event. Lockheed
Martin used internal funds to develop specialist skills in the Aegis
Combat System for our Australian AWD Program workforce. “We strengthened
the AWD test team which now includes experienced Lockheed Martin engineers
and technicians from both Australia and the U.S. to conduct the Aegis
combat systems integration,” Milligan added.
The Hobart-class destroyers are being built under Australia’s
SEA 4000 program, which will ultimately deliver three advanced multirole
ships. These ships will be Australia’s first ships to be equipped
with Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Weapon System including the SPY-1D(V)
radar. When paired with the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, Aegis is
capable of delivering missiles for every mission and threat environment
in naval warfare. The RAN has received the Lockheed Martin Aegis Baseline
8 configuration, which integrates commercial-off-the-shelf technology
and open architecture into the combat system.
“This milestone is a significant step towards an increase in the
Royal Australian Navy’s maritime security capabilities through
the seamless integration of the Aegis combat system to defend against
advanced air, surface and subsurface threats,” said Commodore
Craig Bourke, CSC, RAN Program Manager Air Warfare Destroyer “With
more than 100 Aegis-equipped ships deployed worldwide, Australia is
joining a family of allied nations that continues to push the boundaries
of innovation with adaptable and affordable capabilities that meet the
warfighter’s multi-mission needs.”
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Lockheed
Martin is the Aegis Combat Systems Integrator and engineering agent
for the U.S. Navy Aegis destroyers and cruisers, Australian Air Warfare
Destroyers, as well as a range of other international customers for
both new construction and modernisations. Lockheed Martin also provides
the combat system engineering, integration and test for the U.S. Navy’s
future frigate and Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship programs.
With more than 40 years of significant investment by the U.S. Navy and
its allies, the Aegis Combat System is used globally by five navies,
across seven ship classes. Lockheed Martin is the trusted Aegis Combat
Systems Integration partner to governments around the world, enabling
mission ready, combat capable ships affordably and timely to the fleet.
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Lockheed
Martin Integrated Test Team start Aegis Combat System integration and
testing. Photo courtesy of Australian Defence. 
Lockheed
Martin have taken the Aegis Combat System from an anti-ship missile
system to the basis for the U.S. approach to global missile defense.