LM installs latest Aegis BMD upgrade

MOORESTOWN, N.J., June 24 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin announced it has completed its latest Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System installation on the U.S. Navy's USS Lake Erie cruiser.

U.S. company Lockheed Martin says the latest evolution of the Aegis BMD technology, the 4.0.1 system, has been installed on the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) guided missile cruiser. Official say the incremental upgrade includes an Aegis BSP BMD signal processor.

The Aegis BSP processor is part of an effort to add improved detection, tracking and targeting capabilities of "complex ballistic missiles and their associated countermeasures," a news release said.

"The signal processor is a major technical advance for Aegis BMD before it merges with the Navy's Aegis Modernization Program's fully open architecture, multi-mission combat system," Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin Surface/Sea-Based Missile Defense vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

"The continued Aegis program emphasis on systems engineering excellence supports the Navy's desire to expand BMD capability to additional cruisers and destroyers, and grow missile defense capability to pace the threat."