Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has announced that the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) has approved the latest upgrade to its electronic navigation software for U.S. Navy submarines.
Version 8.3 of Sperry Marine’s Voyage Management System (VMS) was approved for submarines by the CNO following an extensive certification testing program carried out by engineers from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Port Hueneme, Virginia Beach detachment. VMS is the standard naval electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS-N), which is being deployed across the Navy’s fleet of surface ships and submarines. The newest VMS version for submarines will enhance the vessels’ ability to navigate in extreme northern latitudes and conduct under-the-ice operations.
“This is an important milestone in the ongoing program to transition the U.S. Navy submarine force to ECDIS-N,” said J. Nolasco DaCunha, vice president of Sperry Marine. “With VMS, the navigation team can view the submarine’s real-time position and movement superimposed, along with radar images, on a digital nautical chart showing all the aids and hazards to navigation – a revolutionary improvement over manual plotting on paper charts.”
To date, 58 U.S. nuclear submarines have been equipped with Sperry Marine VMS-based navigation systems, and 92 percent of them have been certified to use ECDIS-N as the primary navigation plot.