Lockheed Martin has teamed up with ITT Corporation to compete for the US Navy’s surface electronic warfare improvement programme, which will lay the groundwork for Navy’s next-generation electronic warfare system.

Lockheed Martin and ITT will be entering their common electronics warfare system (ICEWS), a warfare and sensor system that is designed to operate across all ship classes in the US Navy’s surface fleet.

The US Navy’s surface electronic warfare improvement programme block 2 upgrade programme will integrate systems that use common, multifunctional radio frequency equipment for use on future US Navy destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers, as well as for backfits on existing vessels.

Electronic warfare refers to the use, and denial of use, of the electromagnetic spectrum by a broad range of electronic technologies, including radar and other sensor systems.

Vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Radar Systems, Carl Bannar said that the partnership brought together more than 40 years of electronic warfare capabilities.

“We will provide a highly capable, modular solution that uses open systems architecture,” he said.

President of ITT Electronic Systems, Carl Bernhardt said that the partnership would leverage off the existing relationship with Lockheed Martin on the AN/BLQ-10 submarine enterprise electronic warfare programme.

By Daniel Garrun.