Ford-class integrated combat system tested
The integrated combat system for the USS Gerald R Ford has undergone final developmental testing off the coast of California.
Carried out by Raytheon and the US Navy, the test saw the navy’s unmanned self defence test ship simulating a range of real-life scenarios, including a raid scenario exercise. Two anti-ship missile surrogate targets were located, classified, tracked and engaged using the Ship Self Defense System (SSDS) integrated combat system adapted for CVN 78.
SSDS is an open, distributed combat management system in service on US carriers and amphibious ships. SSDS is integrated with Raytheon's Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) for the extraction and distribution of sensor-derived information. This further enhances each ship's anti-air warfare capability through sharing of available data to all participating CEC units, improving situational awareness, increasing range, and enabling cooperative, multiple, or layered engagement strategies.
The SSDS ICS for CVN 78 has now successfully engaged three of three targets over the course of its first two test exercises.
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