FAIRFAX, Va. — General Dynamics Mission Systems has equipped the USS Gabrielle Giffords with new over-the-horizon missile capability in support of the Chief of Naval Operations’ mandate to increase littoral combat ships’ lethality and survivability, according to a Sept. 26 company release.
The integration of the Mk87 Mod 0 over-the-horizon Naval Strike Missile (NSM) aboard the USS Gabrielle Giffords, an Independence-variant LCS, strengthens the ship’s mission readiness and defensive capabilities.
General Dynamics was able to integrate the NSM system by determining equipment placement, adapting the ship’s navigation system to provide unique signals to the missile system, designing the operational station in the Integrated Command Center, designing the system for providing specialized power to the Mk87 and conducting all of the analyses necessary for a safe and effective system. The General Dynamics team, including Austal USA, designed structures and foundations and accomplished the installation in San Diego.
“The open-architecture design of the ship’s computing environment and electronic systems made the design and integration of the new NSM system feasible in an accelerated timeline,” said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of maritime and strategic systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems.
The NSM, produced by Kongsberg and managed in the United States by Raytheon, is a long-range, precision-strike weapon that can find and destroy enemy ships at distances up to 100 nautical miles.
In addition to the USS Gabrielle Giffords, General Dynamics will serve as the prime contractor for the integration and installation of the NSM capability on all Independence-variant LCSs already in service.
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