The U.S. Navy plans to field in February a “virtual twin†of the Aegis Combat System as part of a pilot program that aims to accelerate the deployment of upgrades to the platform, USNI News reported Wednesday.
The pilot program seeks to facilitate testing on guided-missile cruisers and destroyer ships of potential upgrades to the weapons system without interference to the operations of the maritime-based Aegis platform.
Capt. Todd Boehm, major program manager for Aegis integrated warfare systems, said the virtual twin is a set of code that comprises the Aegis Baseline 9Â system and currently operates at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren in Virginia.
Boehm said the service will test and determine how it can integrate and test a new algorithm that works to build up the “surface tracking picture†into the baseline in real time through the use of the Aegis virtual twin aboard a destroyer that is set to undergo the Composite Training Unit Exercise.
The Navy will conduct the second phase of the pilot program between the spring and summer of 2018 with a plan to put the virtual twin onboard a vessel that is set to carry out a live-fire Standard Missile test as part of the Combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials.
The testing phase seeks to help developers immediately identify problems associated with an early-stage combat system capability build prior to spending on the system’s operational test and evaluation stage, the report noted.
