Lockheed: Aegis getting even better, but limits in sight

Lockheed Martin’s newest edition of Aegis will be the best it’s ever been, a top company official said Friday, but there’s only so much more that software and other upgrades can do with the existing radars aboard U.S. Navy and international warships.

Jeff Bantle, the company’s vice president for naval combat and missile defense, told reporters that Aegis Baseline 9 will bring new levels of game-changery to cruisers and destroyers: It will be able to do air defense and ballistic missile defense simultaneously; use remote sensor data from tomorrow’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft; give greater detail when tracking targets; and be simpler and easier for crews to maintain.

“I tell everybody: It’s really not your mother’s Aegis,” Bantle said.

Read more