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System Engineering & Technical Services
The Navy's new Seawolf-class attack submarine has emerged as the ultimate open-ocean ASW platform: faster, quieter, more heavily armed, and equipped with better acoustic sensors than any attack submarine in the world. Seawolf's robust design supports missions including surveillance, intelligence collection, special warfare, covert cruise missile strike, mine warfare, anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare. The Seawolf's advanced Combat System, the highly-integrated AN/BSY-2, is also being used to retrofit existing ships and will be the foundation for future combat system architectures. The developmental New Attack Submarine - whose lead ship will be the USS Virginia (SSN-774) - charts an exciting new course for the U.S. Navy. Virginia has been designed specifically to fight in the world's littorals. While maintaining a robust capability for open-ocean ASW, Virginia nonetheless incorporates weapons, sensors, and some special new equipment and features that suit her particularly well for joint operations in shallower coastal regions, including land attack, intelligence gathering, mine reconnaissance and supporting special forces. SEA CORP's engineers and technicians perform a wide range of engineering and technical functions for these latest additions to the nation's undersea arsenal. Beginning with design studies and continuing through prototyping, modeling and testing of subsystems and components, the company provides its support through a long-term services contract with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, the Navy's premier undersea laboratory. In addition to the work specifically connected with the two newest fleet additions, the Company also performs tasks associated with a formal plan for continuous improvement. The "Submarine Modernization Program" is aimed at selected systems on 688/688I, SEAWOLF, Trident, SSGN, and Virginia class submarines. Submarine Modernization will give the submarine fleet a common, integrated Submarine Warfare System (SWS) based on IP connectivity and will use Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) hardware and open architectures to the maximum extent possible. The modernized SWS will provide the submarine fleet with the necessary interoperability tools to be an "information factory" to gather, process, and distribute all data collected by the submarine. Commonality across platforms will reduce hardware, software, logistics and training costs for the fleet. The technical approach to the Warfare System Modernization (WSM) process is to provide the over-arching system engineering discipline required to successfully acquire, integrate, test, install, and field a modernized "system of systems" for submarine platforms. In addition to the work for new submarines, this effort includes other tasks in the general category of Non-Propulsion Electronics (NPE) as well as engineering, prototyping, and production hardware for various towed array sensor handling systems.
Submarines at sea rely heavily upon sound for navigation and for the location and identification of other vessels. Sound is received, processed and displayed for analysis on sophisticated electronic equipment. The operation of this equipment requires a great deal of hands-on training to gain and maintain proficiency. SEA CORP supports the Navy in the installation, testing, and documentation for submarine acoustic trainer systems. SEA CORP's engineers develop specifications for new equipment and incorporate improvements in existing equipment. Our technicians carry out testing to ensure that the training simulators operate to design specifications. SEA CORP is also responsible for maintaining the documentation which backs up the engineering work and technical operations. As new and improved systems are ready to enter service, SEA CORP makes the plans for their installation and use, preparing schedules, inspecting and preparing installation sites and testing and evaluating the equipment as it is set up. Throughout the cycle of upgrading existing trainers and introducing new simulators, SEA CORP also plays a key role in the design, development and incorporation of the software needed to operate these highly complex systems.
SEA CORP is providing systems analysis and test technologies for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Newport for testing combat systems and trainer systems during the development, integration, installation and shipboard testing of operational and future generation submarines. This includes software test and evaluation, hardware test and evaluation, system engineering, independent tests for validation and verification of technical accuracy and adherence to specifications requirements, and documentation. Support includes analyzing and correcting software deficiencies that could impair the mission of a system or program.
SEA CORP provides technical services for the management planning, engineering, analysis, testing, evaluation and logistic support of the Trident submarine Data Processing Subsystem. This includes system level support, change management/quality assurance support,and non-shipboard systems software engineering support. Within this program, SEA CORP provides technical and engineering services for development of embedded software and test procedures, and testing at-sea and in the laboratory.
Under this contract SEA CORP provides engineering services in support of software, hardware and maintenance for submarine combat systems. This contract covers software, hardware development and resolution of operational problems, as well as installations of new technologies into existing submarine and acoustic systems. Special analyses are performed on acoustic search and surveillance systems, communications systems, navigation systems, non-traditional signal processing and environmental analysis systems. SEA CORP's efforts on this program have thus far led to improved Sonar performance, improved operability and reliability and the development of Sonar enhancements for both fast attack and Trident submarines.
SEA CORP supports the Submarine Sonar Department of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in analyzing sonar array development efforts and sonar suite improvements for all classes of current and planned submarines. SEA CORP performs a wide range of engineering tasks in support of the operational systems and systems under development, including: analysis of sonar system alternatives and performance (detection, classification, tracking, and localization); simulation and theoretical modeling; improvement of processing and display; development of alternate tracker designs; evaluation of electronics hardware and software designs; testing; analysis of test data; design and fabrication of analysis systems and interfaces; development and evaluation of system tactics and associated technical activities necessary to support the development of evolving sonar systems. In addition to torpedoes, modern submarines are armed with sophisticated cruise missiles. The Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles can be used against targets at sea or on land. Operations during the 1991 Gulf War, for example, relied heavily on the use of Tomahawk missiles. SEA CORP performs systems engineering and technical analysis services to ensure that these important systems function safely and according to specifications. Much of the Company's effort in this contract focuses on testing. The missiles and their associated combat control systems are tested both with actual firings and with simulations. In both cases, SEA CORP's engineers and technicians help to develop the test procedures, carry them out, and then analyze the results. In support of the overall evaluation program, we also develop and integrate software and hardware and create the data reduction and analysis algorithms for automated data collection. In addition to our key role in testing and evaluation, SEA CORP also directly supports those missile systems at sea today, and develops improvements for the future. Our technical experts respond to fleet trouble calls, suggesting corrective action and, when necessary, flying to the ship's location to provide hands-on assistance. We also provide logistics support, such as keeping track of spare parts requirements and cataloguing associated components, such as test equipment. As technological advancements make possible improvements to systems' performance, we assist in the design effort, creating electronic schematics and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) drawings of new or improved hardware. Finally, we track the development of the new and improved equipment and software, assist in its installation and test the final product, completing the full cycle of systems engineering support.
Submarines preparing for deployment, or even local operations, frequently are tasked to collect environmental data, such as water depth, currents, salinity, temperature and so forth. The data collected is used to update oceanographic conditions around the world in preparation for future operations and for scientific studies. The data also contributes to trend analysis to predict ocean conditions. In order to collect this information at the level of detail and precision required for accurate analysis, special sensor equipment is needed. In order to reduce cost and to conserve precious space aboard the submarine, such equipment is brought aboard and installed for the duration of a particular mission, depending upon the nature and location of operations, and then removed when the submarine returns to port. The equipment “package” can then be reconfigured for another mission and used again. Because of special safety, operational and security requirements aboard U.S. nuclear attack submarines, the temporary integration of additional electronics gear requires special expertise and exceptional care to ensure not only that the equipment will function as required for long periods without maintenance and repair, but also that the equipment will not interfere with the operation of any of the installed systems or other temporary installations. Often, the installations require the design and manufacture—on the scene—of new mounting hardware and hardware/software interfaces. SEA CORP’s electronics engineers and technicians, with their extensive submarine operational experience and detailed knowledge of the systems aboard, are tasked to install, test and maintain these special sensor systems. The SEA CORP installation teams also train the submarine’s crew in the proper operation of the equipment. |
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