Northrop Grumman [NOC] delivered the first AL/SLQ-32(V)7 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 engineering and development model (EDM) unit to the Navy for land-based testing, the company announced June 11.
The SEWIP Block 3 is designed to give select surface ships a scalable electronic warfare enterprise suite with improved electronic attack capabilities. Initially these units are geared to target anti-ship missiles by jamming their targeting systems.
The Navy previously called the SEWIP system an evolutionary and incremental development upgrade to the current AN/SLQ-32(V) electronic warfare system.
The official transfer occurred at an event with company and Navy program officials at Northrop Grumman’s systems integration facility in Baltimore, Md.
“The AN/SLQ-32(V)7 EDM delivery to the U.S. Navy for continued government land-based testing following formal qualification testing is a significant achievement for the SEWIP Block 3 program. SEWIP Block 3 provides a critical electronic warfare capability to the Fleet to pace the evolving anti-ship missile threat,” Capt. Jason Hall, the Navy Major Program Manager of Above Water Sensors and Lasers, said in a statement.
“This delivery represents the next step in a multi-year effort to take SEWIP from the laboratory to the hands of the warfighter. Providing the comprehensive hardware-defined, software-enabled system to the Navy proves out the final design and signifies the end of the engineering, manufacturing and development phase,” Mike Meaney, vice president for Land and Maritime Sensors at Northrop Grumman, said.
The company previously successfully completed SEWIP Block 3 system integration and formal qualification testing as part of the engineering, manufacturing and development contract, which the company said indicates it is ready for transition to Navy testing.
Naval Sea Systems Command land-based testing is set to occur at the Surface Combat Systems Center in Wallops Island, Va.
Last October, the Navy awarded the company another $101 million for follow-on production of the SEWIP Block 3 with options that, if exercised, would raise the total contract to $1.16 billion (Defense Daily, Oct. 5, 2020).
Earlier, the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a $27.6 million modification to produce the first two low-rate initial production (LRIP) SEWIP Block 3 units. At the time, a company official told Defense Daily, the initial units were bound for the USS Mustin (DDG-89), with LRIP delivery planned for November 2021 (Defense Daily, Jan. 16, 2019).