Article Posted on : - Jun 04, 2014

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND (BNS): The U S Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to provide engineering design services for the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) that helps protect the fleet from numerous naval warfare threats.

The $10 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract includes options, which if exercised would bring the total contract value to $182 million, Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the VLS, said.

MK 41 has been integrated in 23 different ship classes and 12 different weapon control systems. More than 12,000 MK 41 VLS missile cells have been delivered or are on order.

This contract combines purchases for the U S Navy and eight allied navies under the Foreign Military Sales programme.

Included in the work is missile integration, software development, integration of VLS into new ships, technical refresh, systems engineering and life cycle support for MK 41 VLS.

These services will also be done on the U S Navy's Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.