Sun Sails Onto Navy Destroyer Team

By Nick Wakeman, Staff Writer




APRIL 28 ? Raytheon Co. of Lexington, Mass., has tapped Sun Microsystems Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., to help design and build the next generation of Navy Destroyers. Sun has joined a Raytheon team that includes Boeing Co. and Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding.



Raytheon is leading what is called the Gold Team in a competition with the Blue Team led by Bath Iron Works and Lockheed Martin Corp.



Sun's role on the Gold Team will be to aid the engineering effort to design, build and support the "total ship computing architecture" for the Navy's 21st Century Land Attack Destroyer, known as the DD-21. The long-term, exclusive agreement between the two companies includes provisions to assure selection of the best value commercial hardware and software to meet performance and cost requirements.



The DD 21 total ship computing architecture is a shipwide, all-source information processing and management system that supports the operation of the ship. The architecture is a key component of network centric warfare, assuring knowledge superiority and the execution of accurate measured force response. In addition, the architecture will help reduce the workload of the ship's crew.



"Our priority is to enable the sailor to manage the ship and fight to win, and use TSCA to enhance the quality of life for personnel while they are on board," said Jack Cronin, vice president of Raytheon's DD-21 campaign.