Navy takes anti-submarine tracking to next level

Lockheed Martin will help the U.S. Navy fleet improve its capability to detect and track submarine threats through the use of advanced acoustic and signal processing methods under a $24 million contract.

Under the follow-on contract, Lockheed Martin will enhance the hardware and software baseline used for the Navy’s Common Integrated Undersea Sensor System, company officials said Oct. 14. The baseline, known as the Integrated Common Processor (ICP), assists operators in localizing and tracking possible surface and subsurface threats.

Once deployed, ICP will serve as a common workstation across existing and future undersea sensors and platforms, the officials said. The Navy’s Program Executive Office for Littoral and Mine Warfare is overseeing the processor's development.

In addition, Lockheed Martin will improve automation and localization capabilities relative to detecting acoustic energy. The improvements to automation will reduce operator workload, simplify training and limit system development costs, the officials said.

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command is the contracting activity.