Navy expects first shipboard network installed by October

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command said it plans the first installation of its new shipboard network on a destroyer before the end of September, pending completion of an operational assessment of the system developed by Northrop Grumman Corp., which won the first iteration of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services contract yesterday. The contract potentially is worth $637.8 million.

The assessment test, conducted in the SPAWAR engineering and certification laboratory, is needed to win Defense Department approval for production and deployment, a step in the acquisition process known as Milestone C.

SPAWAR said the initial delivery order to Northrop Grumman for $36.7 million also covers installation on another destroyer and an amphibious Landing Helicopter Dock in the USS Wasp class.

The command also said the Northrop Grumman contract covers limited deployment in 2012 and 2013, followed by a new competition for a full production contract with an award in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. This will be followed by a competition for an engineering support services contract slated for award in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

Capt. D.J. LeGoff, the CANES program manager said, "the CANES acquisition strategy is built upon a foundation of competition throughout the program's life cycle." The competition between Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp. for the first contact "achieved its purpose of being able to procure technically capable CANES systems at an affordable price."

CANES will be installed on 180 ships and submarines and in maritime operational centers by 2020, SPAWAR said. The Navy has 285 ships and submarines in the fleet today. The command did not respond to a query about when the other 95 vessels will be equipped with CANES.

Sudi Bruni, a Northrop Grumman spokeswoman, said Huntington Ingalls Industries will handle shipboard integration and installation for CANES. Installation costs are expected to account for about half the total value of the contract, LeGoff said.

Bruni said Northrop Grumman's small business partners on CANES include Atlas Technologies Inc., BBI International, Beatty and Co. Computing, CenterBeam Inc., Juno Technologies, Mikros Systems Corp. and Syzygy Technologies.

Cory Smith, a Lockheed Martin spokesman, said the company was disappointed with the award to Northrop Grumman: "We have requested a debrief to understand the Navy's position on this decision so that we may better serve them in the future."