Lockheed Martin marked the completion of the first Aegis Integrated Weapon System (IWS) with the SPY-1F radar for the Royal Norwegian Navy today with a pull- the-plug ceremony at its Moorestown facility. The system will be packed and shipped to Spanish shipbuilder IZAR for installation on the Fridtjof Nansen, the first ship of the F310 Norwegian frigate program, now under construction in Ferrol, Spain.

The system, which includes Lockheed Martin's SPY-1F radar, successfully completed a full range of acceptance tests during the past several months to verify system performance. Today's pull-the-plug ceremony marks the completion of testing and symbolizes the system is ready for shipboard installation.

"The work done by all parties in connection with the design, construction and testing that has taken place here is amazing," said Capt. Per Erik Goransson of the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization. "Many skeptics declared that the plan was too ambitious when the program started. But you have proved them wrong!"

In all, five Norwegian New Frigates are currently under contract for production.

"The Nansen-class frigate program is a tremendous international partnership that will provide the people of Norway with proven state-of-the- art capabilities at sea," said Fred P. Moosally, president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors. "The sailors of the Fridtjof Nansen can operate with the confidence that the SPY-1F and its Integrated Weapons System is ready for all missions."

The SPY-1F system is an important element of Lockheed Martin's responsibilities on the Norwegian Frigate program, which includes integration of the entire IWS encompassing all sensors, weapons, software development, communications, and navigation. The system is based on the Aegis Weapon System, originally developed by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy.

The SPY-1F multi-function radar is a scaled version of Lockheed Martin's SPY-1D radar, which is the most advanced naval surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense radar in the world. The SPY-1F is designed to meet the mission needs for a range of ships from corvettes to aircraft carriers.

"This pull-the-plug ceremony will allow the Lockheed Martin and IZAR partnership to safely proceed with the coming F-310 activities, with the common aim to fulfill the Royal Norwegian Navy requirements and expectations," said Jose M. Herranz, IZAR's New Norwegian Frigates director. "This is part of both front-end companies' willingness to succeed in this and future achievements."

The Aegis Weapon System is currently deployed on 71 ships deployed around the world, and 26 more ships are planned. In addition to the U.S. and Norwegian navies, Aegis is aboard Japanese and Spanish warships and the Republic of Korea recently selected Aegis for its newest class of destroyers.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 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