Lockheed Martin to Upgrade Ship Defense System on Turkish Navy Frigates

The U.S. Navy recently awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a contract to upgrade the MK 92 Fire Control System on Turkey's G-class guided missile frigates. The system upgrade will support the introduction of the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), providing enhanced self-protection capabilities for this class of surface warships.The MK 92 system, originally developed by Lockheed Martin, provides integrated X-band radar surveillance, target tracking and weapon fire control capability for naval gun and missile systems. Under the new Navy contract, Lockheed Martin will design, develop and integrate modifications necessary to support the new missile capability.

"The MK 92 upgrade represents the first U.S. Navy-sponsored sale of our solid-state continuous wave illumination transmitter to support ESSM deployment by navies around the world," said Stan Ozga, Lockheed Martin's director for Naval Radar Programs. "Building on our successes with systems already in use by Norway and Australia, Lockheed Martin will deliver, with this latest variant, a major improvement to the guided missile frigate anti-air warfare capability and continue more than two decades of support to the operational needs of the Turkish Navy."

The upgrade, when combined with Lockheed Martin's MK41 Vertical Launching System, will allow increased self defense capacity through the MK25 Quadpack canister allowing four ESSMs to be loaded in each MK41 cell, resulting in enhanced self-protection capabilities for this class of surface warships. ESSM is a medium range quick reaction missile designed to defeat stressing anti ship cruise missiles.More than 125 shipboard MK 92 systems have been produced and deployed with nine different navies around the world. It has been installed on more than 70 guided missile frigates, as well as on a variety of other surface ships including coast guard cutters, corvettes and fast attack craft.

Posted in: Frigates,Missile,Turkey,USA