CRANE, Ind. –
Lucas Robinson enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1999 where he spent a decade working in Electronic Warfare technology. Once he left active duty, he did similar work in Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO) as a contractor. In 2012, his developed expertise led him to Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), where he completed onboard ship installations on the East and West Coasts of the U.S., Japan, and Spain.
“I’ve been working with this Fleet Modernization group for many years, but I’ve been the Branch Manager for two years now,” said Robinson. “In my short time here, we’re seeing a real need to accelerate, move faster, remove barriers, and meet emergent requests. Our mission is to modernize the entire Navy fleet.”
Robinson said the expeditious timelines are due to the demands of rapidly evolving threats the Fleet faces across the globe. Robinson has seen technology evolve significantly since joining the Navy 26 years ago.
“This is the largest modernization of electronic warfare as a warfare area in the last half century,” said Robinson. “We’re jumping decades in technology modernization—and we’re pulling it off. We’re also very cost effective in the way we operate.”
Accelerating Force Generation by Delivering Numerous Spectrum Capabilities
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has several Lines of Effort (LOE), including LOE 1 Accelerate Force Generation. Accelerating Force Generation means that NAVSEA’s capabilities are fully operational and ready to support the fleet through quality and on-time delivery. Fleet Readiness and Modernization is also a strategic priority for NSWC Crane, focusing on providing direct fleet support and creating surge capacity to meet operational requirements. NSWC Crane’s Fleet Modernization Branch accelerates force generation by providing critical new Ship Construction Navy (SCN) Electromagnetic Spectrum capabilities.
“NSWC Crane has been the Navy’s home for surface electronic warfare systems for about 50 years,” said Robinson. “We support DRAKE, which is a system that uses EW to counter unmanned aerial devices, and CACS, which goes on amphibious warfare ships that rapidly transport U.S. Marines. We also support an advanced off-board decoy system, which provides anti-ship missile defense.”
The AN/SLQ-32 (V)6 is a surface Navy Electromagnetic Warfare (EW) surveillance system providing anti-ship missile defense and increases situational awareness of threats. It supports hardware and software modular functionality. The AN/SLQ-32 (V)7 brings active, powerful, and highly precise electronics attack capability, as well as other functionality, and is beginning to be installed onboard ships.
“The AN/SLQ-32 is a main component on surface Navy warships, such as cruisers, destroyers, and carriers. It is a widely fielded system across the Navy, and NSWC Crane has supported the system for decades. We’re in the midst of this challenging install with that system with brand new technology the Navy has never seen before.”
A system called the Scaled Onboard Electronic Attack (SOEA), which has a smaller footprint than the (V)7, is planned to be fielded within the next few years by the team.
“These [AN/SLQ-32] systems have been employed in combat areas around the world; they have been responsible for saving lives,” said Robinson.
Slashing Delivery Timelines by More Than Half
Within the last year, the team has been able to meet fleet modernization demands by shortening the timeline significantly.
“There’s a process to make a system more hardened called Engineering Change Proposal (ECP), which is usually a long process,” said Robinson. “If you look at the number of ships you know it can take five years to incorporate an entire ECP fielding plan—but the Navy needed these systems upgraded faster to support the warfighter. So, we were able to come up with the process that accelerated and compressed that entire fielding plan from five years to two. That’s a big change from how things have been done in the past. It’s challenging because you have to maintain quality while moving at rapid pace—a huge testament to our team’s hard work and dedication to the mission.”
Robinson credits his team for their dedication to the mission and thinking outside the box.
“The amount of work that goes into doing what we do on a daily basis, I couldn’t even respect it fully until I got in this role, but we have an extremely dedicated group,” said Robinson. “They do anything to get the job done and have an emphasis on quality for the warfighter and for the American people. There’s a lot of requirements and standards for shipboard safety we abide by. We have a stellar safety and quality reputation for all the work we do—which stems from Navy tradition and isn’t something you can buy.”
The NSWC Crane workforce has the tools needed to meet the future needs of the Fleet.
“NSWC Crane, being in the Midwest and far away from the coasts, has delivered all these systems to these ships at a pretty high standard,” said Robinson. “We have a dedicated workforce and have become expeditionary in some ways—which has really put us at the forefront of this new environment where we’re being asked to go much quicker.”
About NSWC Crane | NSWC Crane is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) with mission areas in Expeditionary Warfare, Strategic Missions and Electromagnetic Warfare. The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral, full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today's Warfighter.