Leidos to provide software development for U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) decision support system

March 31, 2021
The AN/UYQ-100 provides networking that enables Navy ASW commanders to plan destroyer and aircraft carrier operations against enemy submarines.

SAN DIEGO – Systems integrators at Leidos Digital Solutions Inc. in Vienna, Va., will provide software development and engineering for a U.S. Navy decision-support system designed to help Navy commanders plan submarine warfare attacks on enemy vessels.

Officials of the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific in San Diego announced a $4.5 million order to Leidos last week to support the AN/UYQ-100 Undersea Warfare Decision Support System (USW-DSS) command and control program.

The AN/UYQ-100 provides network-centric capability that enables Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) commanders to plan and coordinate destroyer and aircraft carrier operations against enemy submarines. The system enables commanders to establish and maintain a common tactical picture and execute tactical control, Navy officials say.

Leidos will provide systems engineering; software development; enterprise engineering; software build management; infrastructure integration; testing; technical writing services; system documentation; and cyber security engineering.

Related: Navy bulks-up anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability for destroyer and cruiser surface warships

The USW-DSS installs open-architecture decision-making tools as software on computers aboard Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, aircraft carriers, and shore installations. It enables commanders to share key tactical data among ASW surface ships, aircraft, and shore sites in near real-time, and is the only Navy program of record that provides an undersea warfare common tactical picture, Navy officials say.

The USW-DSS ASW decision-support system complements and provides an interface with common operational picture systems such as the Global Command and Control System-Maritime (GCCS-M), as well as Link 11 and Link 16 tactical data links.

When the AN/UYQ-100 is deployed on destroyers, the Navy's surface ship ASW combat system AN/SQQ-89 provides ship, sensor, and track data to USW-DSS. The CVN Tactical Support System (CV-TSC) provides this data when the system is installed on carriers.

These data sources enable USW-DSS to generate and share a composite track picture that enables ASW ships and aircraft to share weapons control. The systems's decision-support tools operate on existing shipboard computers and communications links.

Related: Navy asks Lockheed Martin to build AN/SQQ-89 shipboard anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and counter-mine systems

The system's USW-DSS advanced capability build 2 (ACB-2) release 3 (B2R3) completed initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) in 2013. By 2019 far the USW-DSS had been delivered to 35 surface warships and aircraft carriers, and is operational at three shore commands and five training sites.

The latest system uses the Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services (CANES) computers and is installed as software. The AN/UYQ-100 has been operational with the fleet since 2010, and through 2019 Navy leaders plan to install the system on 65 ships and shore sites.

Leidos should be finished with this order by December 2023. For more information contact Leidos Digital Solutions online at www.intranetquorum.com, or the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific at www.niwcpacific.navy.mil.

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