Lockheed Martin [LMT] was awarded a foreign military sale contract for $35 million to deliver advanced, open-architecture combat systems to modernize four Tupi-class submarines, one Tikuna-class submarine and one shore-based trainer system for the Brazilian navy, the company reported yesterday.
According to a source, the contract was competitively awarded. However, it is unknown what other U.S. or international companies competed for the contract.
Under a contract administered by the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin will provide systems engineering, sensors, software and electronics for the modernization of the diesel submarines’ control, combat management, sonar and fire control and weapons launch systems, the company said.
The modernized systems will provide the Brazilian navy improvements in overall submarine performance with dramatically improved warfighting capability, Lockheed Martin said.
At the same time, it will improve the Brazilian navy’s ability to operate with naval forces of the U.S. and other allies, the company added.
The new, open-architecture submarine combat systems also will provide the Brazilian navy with improved computer processing capacity, component redundancy and reconfiguration capability.
This will increase availability with reduced spare parts requirements, thereby reducing the life cost of ownership.
This modernization effort also will enable the Brazilian submarine force to defer future obsolescence of its combat system.
This modernization effort complements the recent decision by the Brazilian navy to acquire the MK 48 Mod 6AT heavyweight torpedo from the U.S. government as a replacement for existing torpedo inventories.
Lockheed Martin was selected after a competition conducted by DGMM, the Brazilian Navy material acquisition agency.
To accelerate delivery of the capabilities to the Brazilian navy’s submarine force, Lockheed Martin will leverage proven sonar and combat systems technology that has been developed for allied navies’ diesel-electric submarine programs.