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NAVSEA, McCampbell Partner for Successful Aegis Baseline Testing

NAVSEA News Wire

Release Date: 11/22/2002

By Lt. j.g. Kate Deal, USS McCampbell Public Affairs

ABOARD USS MCCAMPBELL -- Naval Sea Systems Command and the crew of USS McCampbell (DDG 85) recently teamed up for the first fleet testing of the newest Aegis Baseline, 6 phase 3, during McCampbell's Combat Systems Ship Qualification Testing (CSSQT).

This baseline is the first combat systems operating system run via local area networks that integrate Aegis legacy equipment with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. In Baseline 6 phase 3, COTS technology actually controls all primary processors instead of only using COTS for backups and secondary processing.

The CSSQT Team, which included technicians from Lockheed Martin, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Port Hueneme Division, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and NSWC Dahlgren Division, helped build system understanding and develop totally new procedures. The newness of the baseline means that few technical, operational, or troubleshooting manuals are written or provided, and much of the new technology installed on the ship is not built into the standard curriculum of formal Navy schoolhouses. This means that the ship's crew is limited by the ongoing development of the baseline.

"The NAVSEA-McCampbell team worked very hard to overcome challenges associated with implementation of COTS technology," said Lt. Cmdr. Skip Shaw, McCampbell's executive officer. "The expertise of the CSSQT civilian team combined with the dedicated efforts of the crew allowed for a unique partnership which helped develop new operating procedures and provided critical feedback to the program executive office."

"As a result of this collaboration, there is true Sailor input, changes and implementations, to Baseline 6 phase 3 that will allow us to effectively develop the way we will fight the ship," added Lt. Garrett Miller, McCampbell's CSSQT officer.

The CSSQT civilian team rode the ship from Bath Iron Works, Bath Maine, through the initial two-month operational testing conducted in conjunction with McCampbell's transit to its homeport in San Diego, and during the additional two months of CSSQT work-ups. "There was much more emphasis on pre-CSSQT grooms," said Tom Roche, the ship's CSSQT Project Officer from NSWC Port Hueneme. "[Riding the ship] is a good idea, and it led to a more stable baseline."

McCampbell's CSSQT also includes the testing of the new Anti-Submarine Warfare suite, SQQ 89 V (14), the 5 inch .62 cal light weight gun mount, the Advanced Tomahawk Weapons System, and new information dissemination technology provided by the Computer Aided DRT (CADRT)/Tactical Decision Support System (TDSS). Additionally, McCampbell tested an improved Force Protection modification, which takes advantage of spaces formerly dedicated to CIWS and provides for 11 separate .50 cal and MK 19 40mm grenade launcher positions.