Royal Australian Navy Officers Graduate from Aegis Combat System Training at the U.S. Navy's Combat Systems Engineering Development Site

MOORESTOWN, N.J., Oct. 18, 2016

The officers learned to use the Aegis Combat System that is installed onboard the RAN's newest Air Warfare Destroyer, the future HMAS Hobart.

"This course marks the commencement of the Australian Navy's integration of the Aegis Combat System into the future Australian fleet and a continuation of a very close cooperation with one of our most strategic international partners," said Captain Terry Morrison, Director Destroyers, Surface Combatant and Aircraft Branch for the Royal Australian Navy. "It provided mid-level officers with the management level information required to direct the operation in anti-air, anti-surface, and antisubmarine warfare and to manage combat system maintenance."

In the course, students directed all warfare area operations, operated the Aegis display system and commanded system consoles to participate in multi-warfare scenarios, simulating underway conditions.

The Prospective Commanding Officer course was also being taught simultaneously at the CSEDS site. The objective of the course is, to train senior officers to direct warfare area operations and operate the Aegis display system and command and decision system consoles in a command role.

The two courses are taught separately until the final week of training when they are joined together. During this final week, the Combat Systems Officer students are presented with an operational scenario that required in depth planning. The students then present their findings and recommendations to the Commanding Officer students who make tactical decisions and impart their experience gleaned over many years of naval service.  The combined class then used the combat system to effectively "fight the ship" in multi-warfare scenarios.

As the Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent, Lockheed Martin provides modern combat management systems and conducts the entire combat system integration life-cycle that enables navies around the world to achieve their most critical mission objectives. Lockheed Martin has successfully delivered and integrated Aegis and Aegis-based products on 126 platforms in eight nations, with an additional 23 under construction or planned. Aegis and Aegis-derived systems are in service in U.S. Navy cruisers, destroyers, Littoral Combat Ships, Coast Guard National Security Cutters and Aegis Ashore sites. The navies of Japan, Spain, Norway, the Republic of Korea, and Australia have also chosen Aegis to protect their nations.