Aegis Cruiser Ship Controls The Impact of Commercial Technology Insertion in the Fleet
On Future U.S. Navy Ship Design
GLEN H. STURTEVANT AND JOHN C. IMBESI
Navy Department
Washington, D.C.
U.S.A.
Abstract: This paper examines the replacement of the original ship controls system in U.S. Navy
Aegis Cruisers with a state-of-the-art system developed to commercial specifications. The
Smartship Program’s role in commercial technology insertion and evaluation in the Fleet and the
process of technology transition to shipbuilding, ship modernization and system acquisition
programs is discussed.
The computer-based Integrated Ship Controls functionality and enhanced electric plant
capability is reviewed and the integration with All Electric upgrade and other ship modifications
is addressed.
The framework for commercial technology refresh and spiral development are examined and
opportunities to shape the design of future ship controls are highlighted.
The influence that the insertion of automated commercial technology into today’s Fleet has had
on future minimally-manned shipbuilding programs such as LCS, DDX, CVN 21 and CGX is
brought into question.
Key-Words: Smartship, COTS, technology rapid insertion and transition, commercial
specifications, automation
1 Introduction
The U.S. Navy’s Smartship Program was
established by the Chief of Naval Operations
(CNO) in 1995 to examine emerging,
innovative commercial technologies that
could be rapidly inserted into the Fleet as
reduced-manning enablers. Numerous
automated system prototypes have been
evaluated at sea and successfully
transitioned to acquisition programs by the
Smartship Program including Integrated
Ship Controls, Reduced Ship’s crew by
Virtual Presence (RSVP), Integrated Bridge
System, Wireless Networks, Advanced
Foodservice, Shiphandling Simulator,
Voyage Management System and Secure
Wireless Communications.
This paper examines the rapid insertion and
evaluation of a modern ship controls system
into the Fleet and its impact on automation
in future ships.
2 Shift to Commercial
Technology
When the Soviet Union was defeated in
1989, three forces converged that would
redefine U.S. naval engineering and chart a
new course for a transformation in systems
design. A sharp decline in military budget
projections, the exponential advances in
commercial computing speed and power and
the Defense Department’s 1990 policy to
employ Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS)
technology all collided, causing American
scientists and engineers to rethink their
approach to systems design.
With reduced Research, Development,
Test and Evaluation (RDT & E) budget, the
Department saw an opportunity to leverage
off of the investments made by industry in
commercial market product development.
This, coupled with the Department’s COTS
mandate, resulted in a sea change from
systems designed and built to military
specifications to systems designed and
manufactured to commercial standards that
were already available on the market and
could be adapted for military use. No longer
could the U.S. afford the high cost of
military-unique systems, and COTS
technology offered an attractive alternative
in terms of up front cost and time to
(military) market.
During the Cold War, the Department
managed technology as a matter of routine
as military specifications were strictly
adhered to by defense contractors who built
systems to unique requirements.. Although
often costly in terms of dollars and lengthy
delivery schedules, this process worked
relatively well as technology progression
was linear and driven by the military market.
With the introduction of the Personal
Computer (PC) (Intel 8088 processor inside)
by International Business Machines (IBM),
the landscape began to change. Commercial
Information Technology (IT), fueled by
consumer demand, quickly outpaced the
Department’s ability to integrate this new
technology into the rigid military
procurement system. By the end of the Cold
War, IT market dominance had swung from
the military to the commercial sector.
The Navy was especially challenged
because, despite shrinking budgets, its
operational commitments continued to
expand as worldwide unrest filled the void
created by the retreat of Soviet influence.
Stretching its operating account to pay for
additional Fleet deployments, the Navy
demanded new approaches that could
identify offsets in order to balance the
budget.
In 1995, the CNO commissioned a study
by the Naval Research Advisory Committee
(NRAC) to identify cost saving measures in
the operating account. Reference [1] is the
results of that study which 1) cites
manpower as the largest portion of the
operating account, 2) states that technology
could reduce the manpower requirements
through automation, saving a significant
amount of money in a 500 ship Navy, and 3)
that this technology was available in the
commercial market.
3 Rapid Insertion into the Fleet
As a result of the NRAC findings, the CNO
established the Smartship Program to
rapidly insert commercial technology into
the Fleet so that it could be effectively
evaluated prior to proceeding to full
production. The Smartship Program
examined over 900 proposals from industry,
academia and government and in 19961997, inserted 47 enabling technologies in
USS Yorktown (CG 48), an Aegis Cruiser in
the Fleet.
At the heart of these technologies was a
prototype Integrated Ship Controls (ISC)
system, comprised of computer-based
engineering and bridge controls. This
“system of systems” was made up of over 30
reconfigurable, multi-function workstations
distributed throughout the ship, running the
Windows NT operating system and
connected by a fast Ethernet fiber optic
network. Computer software applications
managed the control and monitoring of the
following vital ship functions:
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Electric power generation and
distribution
Propulsion
Steering
Auxiliary systems
Electronic (nautical) Chart Display and
Information System-Navy (ECDIS-N)
Fuel fill and transfer
Damage control
Integrated Condition Assessment
System (ICAS) for machinery
3.1 Prototype Evaluation At Sea
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3.2 Technology Transition –
Increasing Speed to Capability
The process of testing and evaluating
commercial systems at sea in Yorktown
allowed for immediate feedback from the
real customers (ship’s operators and
maintenance technicians) in all areas of what
is now referred to as Human Systems
Integration (HSI). This “sea trial”
demonstration also helped identify new uses
for the technology not foreseen by the
Navy’s scientists and engineers. Finally,
technology demonstration in the Fleet was
invaluable in identifying performance
criteria that would require adaptation to
operate in the unique Navy environment; i.e.
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), shock,
vibration, temperature and humidity.
In Yorktown, the ISC prototype replaced
the archaic Engineering Control and
Surveillance Equipment (ECSE) which had
been designed to military specifications and
fielded in the 1970s – 1990s in every DD
963, DDG 993 and CG 47 Class U.S Navy
ship. For cost, schedule and technical risk
reasons, all 62 of these original systems
were virtually identical.
ECSE had consisted of bulky,
maintenance intensive, stand alone consoles
that occupied large footprints and were hard
wired to perform a single function in a
central location in the ship. The electronic
components were medium level integrated
circuit devices supported by discrete
resistors, capacitors and transistors with
limited use of serial data and computer
processing technology. The ECSE Human
Machine Interfaces (HMI) consisted of
electromechanical indicators with
mechanical pushbuttons and levers,
consistent with the state of the science in the
late 1960s- early 1970s.
The demonstration of the ISC prototype in
Yorktown was highly successful as
documented in reference [2]. As a result of
the significant manpower reductions enabled
by automated commercial technology, 46
enlisted and officer billets were permanently
removed from Yorktown.
During this mid-1990s time period, the last
of the 27 Aegis Cruisers had entered the
Fleet and ECSE was becoming increasingly
more difficult and costly to maintain. After
all, the system was first developed for USS
Spruance (DD 963) some 25 years prior. A
Cost and Operational Effectiveness Analysis
(COEA) was conducted by the Navy,
determining that replacing ECSE unique
components with COTS IT common
components for all Aegis Cruisers would
provide economic benefit due in part to the
significant computing advances in the
consumer market and increased application
in industrial controls systems.
Based on the successful demonstration of
the prototype ISC system in Yorktown and a
solid business case analysis, the Navy began
procurement of production ISC systems for
all its 27 Aegis Cruisers. The Smartship
Program had transitioned ISC from
prototype demonstration to a full rate
production, competitively awarded contract
in less than a year.
The procurement specification developed
by the Navy as part of prototype
demonstration included lessons learned in
the areas of commercial standards (selecting
Versa Module Eurocard (VME) bus),
environmental qualification, system
reliability, fault-tolerant redundancy,
maintainability and logistics supportability,
improved Uninterruptible Power Supply
(UPS) technology, full mesh ATM backbone
network, on line Built In Test (BIT)
functionality for fault isolation , Navy land
based integration first article testing,
Graphical User Interface (GUI) and other
important HSI considerations.
Reference [3] documents the production
ISC system Business Case Analysis (BCA)
with a Return On Investment (ROI) of < 3
years. Operational benefits to the
warfighters are addressed by a Cruiser
Commanding Officer in reference [4]
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exchangers, galley and laundry equipment
and heaters.
ISC greatly reduces the complexity of
integrating independent ship modifications
such as All Electric with the ship control
system because of computer software centric
architecture. Other recent ship modifications
including Full Authority Digital Engine
Control (FADEC) and Digital Fuel Control
(DFC) have been integrated with ISC in
affordable and rapid fashion.
4 Enhanced Electric Plant
Capability
ISC replaces the single function, centrally
located Electric Plant Control Console with
the capability of monitoring and controlling
the electrical power generation and
distribution system at any number of
workstations throughout the ship. Utilizing
password and access level control, electric
plant operation is now conducted anywhere
that is convenient to the operator, or from
alternate locations should equipment
maintenance or battle damage so require.
ISC computer software includes
Embedded Turbine High Overload Recovery
(ETHOR) functionality which, by way of
algorithms, monitors critical Gas Turbine
Generator (GTG) parameters and permits a
generator to operate above its nominal
rating. The ETHOR application does this by
reducing the ship’s load to preclude
generator shutdown, providing the ship with
added warfighting capability when
continuous power to the combat and weapon
systems is required.
ISC replaces antiquated and sensitive
electronic components that drove frequent
mechanical calibration of ECSE. Through
ISC computer software modeling, these high
failure components have been eliminated
and calibration is performed electronically
via calibration GUI.
ISC also brings a sophisticated embedded
training capability to plant operators.
Individual and team computer based training
is routinely conducted underway
(simultaneous to live plant operations),
saving wear and tear of plant equipment,
streamlining crew training, and saving fuel.
6 Framework for Commercial
Technology Refresh
The military’s reliance on COTS has forced
the Navy to manage the maintenance of
fielded systems in a new way. The “half
life” of IT technology continues to decrease,
creating a situation where market
obsolescence, configuration management,
standardization, capability and cost must all
be considered when making decisions
concerning system maintenance. Processors,
disk drives and operating systems are just a
few of the key elements in today’s computer
based systems that are in a constant state of
flux.
The solution requires a combination of
market trend acumen, sound systems
engineering, integration testing ashore, a
companion spiral development strategy for
inserting new capability and cost trade-offs.
Under the Navy’s Rapid Capability Insertion
Process (RCIP) investment framework, ISC
computer software will be refreshed on a
two year cycle with equipment being
refreshed every four years.
7 Opportunities to Shape the
Future
5 Integration with All Electric
The Navy’s re-capitalization plan also
includes upgrading Aegis Cruisers with an
All Electric modification for personnel
safety and cost avoidance purposes. This
upgrade replaces the legacy GTG waste heat
steam boilers and steam-powered systems
with electric systems such as distillers, heat
The Smartship Program continues its
mission of rapidly inserting and evaluating
innovative commercial technology solutions
into today’s Fleet. Through the process of
testing and evaluating commercial
technology at sea, risks to Navy acquisition
programs are mitigated, costs are reduced
4
and speed to capability is significantly
increased.
The rate of change continues to accelerate.
Change, however, presents opportunities to
those who embrace it. The authors have
identified below some of the opportunities to
define future Navy ship controls.
8) With the premium the military has placed
on information assurance (security) since
9-11 and regardless of the technical
solutions available, do we permit off-ship
access to Navy ship’s controls systems?
8 Conclusion – Catching Up
With Technology
1) Do we stay the course with the various
versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating
system with the companion license fees,
return to Unix or jump to Linux?
The U.S. Navy ship controls community of
interest is still strongly influenced by its risk
averse culture, favoring a traditional “manin-the-loop” approach over increasing levels
of autonomous operation. If we are
successful with LCS, DDX and other
minimally-manned ships, it will be because
we have fully embraced automated
commercial technology, and recognized its
proven benefits in today’s Fleet and the
significant rewards it promises the Navy of
the future.
2) Do we continue our pursuit to de-couple
computer software from equipment in order
to attain an Open (systems) Architecture, the
benefits of competition and ease of
integration or are we comfortable with a
limited amount of proprietary solutions to
support the Navy’s “plug and fight” vision?
Where does the Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC) based architecture fit?
3) Do we abandon ADA as a computer
language?
References:
[1] Naval Research Advisory Committee,
Reduced Ship’s Manning Study, 1995
[2] Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S.
Atlantic Fleet, Smartship Project
Assessment Report, N6/1687, 1997
[3] W.H. Sims and J.D. Keagan, Smartship
Metrics and Return On Investment, Center
for Naval Analyses, CRM 222, 2003
4) Can we effectively employ IEEE 802.11
“wifi” wireless network technology to cut
the tether that ties the operators to the
workstations, giving them maximum
mobility and situational awareness? Where
does wireless sensor technology fit?
[4] J. Fullerton, Capt, USN, Operational
Impacts of the Aegis Cruiser Smartship
System, American Society of Naval
Engineers, 2004
5) Is GIG-E the solution for all shipboard
network architectures?
6) Do we push the envelope with intelligent
agents to provide more autonomous
operation of the engineering plant or do we
accept the fact that there will always be a
need for men-in-the-loop, a roadblock to
achieving reduced manning goals? If
combat systems are designed with doctrine
decision aids built into the architecture, what
is so unique about ship controls that
prevents a similar approach?
7) Is voice activation software mature
enough to be part of ship controls?
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