Jan 20 2011
Washington-based U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command has offered a $14.7 million contract to Kollmorgen Electro-Optical in Northampton, Mass., for the provision of five Universal Modular Mast (UMM) systems for integration in submarines by the U.S. Navy.
The UMM jointly fabricated by Kollmorgen Electro-Optical and Kollmorgan’s Italian division, Calzoni in Bologna, is a non-hull piercing mast for use in Navy Virginia-grade rapid-attack submarines and Ohio-grade guided missile submarines. Kollmorgen has also been offered a $41.2 million contract recently by the Naval Sea Systems Command for the supply of eight AN/BVS-1 photonics mast systems for use in Virginia-class submarines.
The UMM features five varied sensor designs namely,the multi-function mast,the integrated electronic mast, the high-data-rate-mast, the photonics mast, and the photonics mast variant. The company’s UMM is a unique high-quality system for the surface water sensors deployed in the U.S. and other international submarines. The Ohio-class ballistic submarine variant, called the guided-missile submarine is designed for the launch of cruise missiles.
The UMM is a non-hull-piercing, dual-stage, telescoping submarine mast having numerous varied sensing units. The Virginia-grade rapid-attack submarines encompass a set of eight of these unique sensor masts, whereas the Ohio-grade cruise missile submarines feature an array of four UMMs.
Based on this contract, the company will execute its manufacturing process in Bologna, Italy; and in Northampton, Mass., and anticipates to complete the work by March 2013.