LM's Aegis Weapon System completes test

MOORESTOWN, N.J., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy's USS Bunker Hill has successfully completed an evaluation of its Lockheed Martin-equipped Aegis Weapon System naval defense technology.

U.S. company Lockheed Martin recently modernized the USS Bunker Hill guided missile cruiser with its open architecture Aegis Weapon technology. The company announced the USS Bunker Hill successfully completed an operational trial of the Aegis Weapon System as part of the Combat System Ship Qualification Trials.

Lockheed Martin says the trials tested the readiness of the next-generation Aegis Weapon System with warfare exercises including several attack scenarios.

"This qualification trial underscores the operational value the Aegis modernization program delivers to the fleet," Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin's Surface/Sea-Based Missile Defense vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

"The same systems engineering excellence that developed the original Aegis Combat System for the USS Bunker Hill is now delivering an enhanced system that leverages the speed and affordability of commercial-off-the-shelf hardware and open architecture software, while continuing the Aegis warfighting imperative to pace the threat."