Integrated Naval Systems for Surface Fleet Operations

Three General Dynamics business units are coordinating the presentation of surface and subsurface naval systems to demonstrate integrated approaches to maritime operations, training, and sustainment for surface fleets and undersea missions.

Context of the Cooperation
General Dynamics Mission Systems, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, and General Dynamics NASSCO are aligning their respective expertise in combat systems, ship design, and shipyard integration. The cooperation addresses the operational challenge of integrating autonomous platforms, mission systems, and sustainment processes across surface combatants and auxiliary vessels. Coordination is required to ensure system interoperability, lifecycle support, and alignment with U.S. Navy training and readiness frameworks.

Technical Solutions and Responsibilities
Mission Systems contributes autonomous and digital systems spanning undersea, surface, air, and information domains. Key technologies include the Bluefin-21 autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle for deep-water sensing and payload delivery; MEDUSA, an expendable UUV architecture designed to meet submarine-launched maritime mining requirements; and GHOST, a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) surface vessel enabling high sea-state payload operations.

Digital infrastructure components include STRMS for personnel qualification and readiness tracking, and MainTAIN, a commercial off-the-shelf enterprise asset management system aligned with the Navy’s Model Based Product Support (MBPS) plan. Information dominance capabilities are addressed through the Dynamic Edge Kit, which integrates multilevel security processing, cross-domain data transfer, and real-time ISR data fusion.

Bath Iron Works and NASSCO provide ship design, construction, and lifecycle integration perspectives, ensuring that these systems can be accommodated within surface combatant architectures, maintenance regimes, and shipyard workflows.

Deployment and Integration
The systems are designed for deployment across existing and future naval platforms with standardized interfaces and modular payload architectures. For example, Bluefin-21 and MEDUSA emphasize launch and recovery compatibility, while Containerized Tethered Elevated Mast (C-TEM) extends shipboard line-of-sight communications without permanent structural modification. MainTAIN and STRMS integrate with existing Navy databases to aggregate maintenance, training, and readiness data.

Applications and Use Cases
Target applications include mine countermeasures, unexploded ordnance response, ISR, counter-unmanned systems, and surface fleet training management. Operational benefits derive from extended sensing reach, improved data availability for command decisions, reduced maintenance planning latency, and standardized readiness assessment across units.

Expected Impact
By aligning platform design, autonomous systems, and digital infrastructure, the cooperation supports improved system compatibility and maintainability. Technical benefits result from modular integration, data aggregation across readiness systems, and reduced operational constraints through autonomous and tethered unmanned assets.

www.gdmissionsystems.com