{"id":34738,"date":"2019-04-25T20:31:38","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T20:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/25\/off-the-eastern-seaboard-a-us-navy-missile-test-could-make-big-waves\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:54:21","slug":"off-the-eastern-seaboard-a-us-navy-missile-test-could-make-big-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/it-networks\/2019\/04\/25\/off-the-eastern-seaboard-a-us-navy-missile-test-could-make-big-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Eastern Seaboard, a US Navy missile test could make big waves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A test announced in late March could herald an enormous change in the way the Navy modernizes its ships, while making a once prohibitive cost of maintaining older ships attainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy destroyer Thomas S. Hudner participated in a live-fire missile exercise using an Aegis \u201cvirtual twin\u201d system, which the service is developing to significantly reduce the hardware footprint inside a ship needed to run the Aegis combat system.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Navy built its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, installing the Aegis combat system into the hull required a large suite of hardware \u2014 computers, servers, consoles and displays \u2014 designed specifically to run Aegis software. Any significant upgrades to the suite of systems already installed, or to the Aegis system in general, required cutting a hole in the ship and swapping out computers and consoles \u2014 a massively expensive undertaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more stories, videos and interviews from Sea-Air-Space!<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The virtual twin upends that model. According to a Naval Sea Systems Command news release, the virtual twin system is carried on the ship in rugged cases that, when stacked up,\u201d are small enough to fit under a dining room table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThomas Hudner\u2019s crew operated the Virtual Twin to fire a missile against an incoming target, proving the Virtual Twin can control radars and missiles to execute an engagement,\u201d the release read. \u201cUsing virtualization technology, this system is able to run the AEGIS Weapon System code in a fraction of the original hardware space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Packing Aegis onto a handful of computers to control radars and sensors on the ship is a game-changer for the surface fleet and gets it closer to a goal that has eluded it for years: rapidly upgrading its combat system with the latest updates for far less money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cost of Aegis baseline upgrades is outrageous,\u201d said Thomas Callender, an analyst with The Heritage Foundation and a retired submarine officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surface fleet, Callender said, is moving toward a system embraced by the submarine community that focused on rapid technology insertions into the combat system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe got away from the \u201960s computer technology, where you had computers that took up an entire room, and moved towards cheaper and faster upgrades,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if I can take out all that old equipment and swap it out for gear that takes up less space, I have space, weight, power and cooling now for other things like lasers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The model might also drive down the cost of modernizations. When the cruiser Normandy was equipped with the full Aegis Baseline 9 suite, which included new displays, consoles and a computer room full of powerful blade servers, it cost the Navy $188 million and cost the ship a year pierside.<\/p>\n\n\n\t