Boeing [BA] said yesterday it has installed its enhanced data transfer network on the USS Spruance (DDG-111), making it the first guided-missile destroyer to receive the upgraded Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS).
GEDMS, designed by Boeing’s Argon ST subsidiary, is a data transfer network intended to provide a redundant, mission-critical network backbone to the ship’s systems.
The upgraded system offers enhanced network communications by providing an IP-based structure that supports multimedia services such as video and data, Boeing said, and is part of the Navy’s modernization effort. GEDMS increases capability for supporting data transfer for the upgraded hull, mechanical, and electrical systems introduced into the fleet with the Spruance, Boeing said.
“The fielding of GEDMS marks a significant milestone in providing a maintainable, highly reliable and survivable mission critical network that supports the new threats and enhanced missions that our destroyers must meet,” Henry Hubbard, the Navy’s GEDMS program manager, said.
The Spruance was commissioned on Oct. 1 and will be ported in San Diego.