Lockheed Martin successfully completed initial testing of two key subsystems of a remotely-controlled, over-the-horizon minehunting system during sea trials of the Navy destroyer Pinckney in the Gulf of Mexico.

Successful at-sea tests of the AN/WLD 1(V) Remote Minehunting System (RMS) included the launch and recovery subsystem, which demonstrated over-the-side handling of a Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV), and line-of-sight and over- the-horizon modes of the Data Link Subsystem (DLS).

"We are very pleased with the results of the recent tests. Anytime we can go to sea provides a data point that we can apply to the program," said Capt. Terry Briggs, Naval Sea Systems Command program manager for surface mine warfare. "The win-win attitude displayed by our combined Lockheed Martin-NSWC Coastal Systems Station-PMS 490 team of professionals was a key to the success of the trials."

Additional integration and testing for RMS will occur throughout the remainder of 2003 and into 2004, with first deployment on an operational destroyer in 2005.

"RMS will allow naval combatants safe access to littoral battlespace by providing an independent mine reconnaissance capability without impacting other warfare missions," said John O'Neill, president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors' Undersea Systems line of business. "This recent at-sea performance demonstration aboard a tactical platform is a significant milestone in the RMS development."

Launched and controlled remotely from forward-deployed ships, RMS will give Carrier and Expeditionary Strike Groups an organic, real-time, over-the- horizon mine reconnaissance capability, significantly enhancing ship and crew safety. The unmanned, semi-submersible RMV tows a Variable Depth Sensor to detect, localize, classify and identify moored and bottom mines. Other key elements of the system include line-of-sight and over-the-horizon real-time data links, a shipboard launch and recovery subsystem, and a software segment, which integrates AN/WLD-1(V)1 into the ship's AN/SQQ-89(V)15 Undersea Warfare Combat System.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors