ARLINGTON, Va.—An Office of Naval Research (ONR) program officer received a Department of the Navy Acquisition Excellence award for helping to upgrade ship electronic warfare technology with multiple vendor solutions that promote cost savings.
Betsy DeLong of ONR’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Department, is a recipient of the 2011 Technology Transition award given annually to an individual or team for successfully transitioning a technology into an acquisition program or operational use. She was part of a team from ONR, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) at Naval Sea Systems Command, and field activity personnel from the Naval Research Laboratory and Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division that was recognized at a Pentagon ceremony June 15 for their efforts in the Multifunction Electronic Warfare (MFEW) program.
“When you have the acquisition community supporting the science and technology development of a system, it sends a clear message to our industry partners that there is a future for this technology,” said DeLong, who has served ONR for six years. The ONR and PEO IWS partnership provided the foundation for a system and process that will yield significant cost savings to the Department of the Navy for decades to come while providing greatly increased electronic warfare (EW) capability over current systems, she added.
The team demonstrated that multiple vendors could supply technology developed under the MFEW program to the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block II upgrades, promoting competition and reducing system development costs by as much as $160 million.
The MFEW system began as an ONR Future Naval Capability program. The system developed under that program was installed aboard the USS Comstock (LSD-45) for testing at sea during the Rim of the Pacific exercise in 2008. Following additional successful tests, it transitioned to PEO IWS and provided government-furnished documentation and software for the SEWIP Block II upgrade program for the Navy’s surface combatants.
The ONR and PEO-IWS partnership continues to develop technology to support future Navy capabilities through ONR’s Integrated Topside (INTOP) program. INTOP is reducing the size, number of systems and power requirements for radar arrays, sensors and antennae on Navy ships while improving performance.