The US Navy has awarded a contract to Raytheon to deliver the Ship Self Defence System (SSDS mk 2) open architecture for four US Navy ships and the Naval Air Systems Command test facility.

Under the $14m contract, the company will assemble, test and deliver upgraded hardware sets for integration on board the navy’s amphibious assault ship LHA 7, aircraft carriers USS Truman and USS Ford as well as the amphibious transport dock ship LPD 26.

SSDS is an open, distributed combat management system specifically designed to speed up the process of detecting, tracking and engaging anti-ship cruise missiles.

It provides the required combat reaction by linking and automating stand-alone sensors and weapon systems and can be configured to support additional domestic and international combatants.

Raytheon’s SSDS mk 2 features open architecture computing environment software that includes selected software components from the Total Ship Computing Environment Infrastructure developed for the US Navy’s DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer.

Work will be carried out at the company’s facilities in San Diego, California and in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.