DRS Technologies Canada (a subsidiary of Leonardo DRS) will start deliveries this summer of four sets of the Integrated Voice Communications System (IVCS) for installation on board the Navy’s first two Flight III Arleigh Burke (DDG-51)–class Aegis destroyers—DDGs-125 and -126—and for backfit on the USS Bulkeley (DDG-84) and USS McCampbell (DDG-85).
Edward Vlasblom, technical director for communications and network programs at the company, says they have provided shipboard communications systems to the Navy since the early 2000s. In 2009, the company won a contract for the shipboard comms system. In 2015, it won an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to supply its IVCS for the Aegis destroyers and cruisers out to 2020. The four sets are the Navy’s latest order for the system, which is slated for new DDGs and for backfit for the DDGs and Ticonderoga (CG-47)-class cruisers through the Aegis modernization program.
The company says the IVCS is a computer-controlled tactical intercom/telephone system that links the ship’s announcing system, shore telephone lines, radio communications systems, and designated sound-powered telephone circuits. The system is capable of assigning priorities to calls and recording communications to comply with marine safety standards.
IVCS is a component of DRS Technologies’ shipboard integrated communications (SHINCOM) technology baseline. The system consists of 200 Avaya digital nonsecure telephones and ruggedized cabinets and mounts built by DRS to ensure compliance with Navy environmental and electromagnetic protection specifications.
Vlasblom says IVCS is a “hybrid” system, incorporating Avaya phone technology already used by the Navy with the SHINCOM architecture. For each ship, DRS provides 40 ruggedized tactical terminals for use in designated ship spaces, 40 loudspeakers, and some 300 phone jack boxes, which are integrated with the Avaya phone system to provide a shipwide tactical communications network of more than 400 individual communications devices.
The DRS-built jack boxes, Vlasblom says, are mounted in every compartment throughout the ship to provide total-ship communications accessibility. DRS also provides tactical phones capable of handling up to five calls simultaneously that can use up to 85 channels at the same time, for use in critical spaces, such as the bridge, damage control, and engineering. The IVCS configurations on board the DDGs and CGs are similar, though not identical, and provide the same functionality.
The SHINCOM architecture also includes the ON-740 digital secure voice system (SVS), which handles voice and data communications and provides classified tactical communications for the combat information center to support the Aegis weapon system and command-and-control operations. SVS, which is integrated with IVCS, is designed with multiple levels of built-in component redundancy and internal battery backup, according to the company.
The IVCS/SHINCOM system is fielded on board the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73). The system also is in service at the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense site in Romania and will be used at the second Aegis Ashore site in Poland, scheduled for completion this year.
DRS also has provided the ON-740 SVS/SHINCOM system through the Navy’s foreign military sales program for South Korea’s three KDX-III destroyers, Japan’s four Kongo-class destroyers, and Australia’s three Hobart-class destroyers, all of which have the Aegis combat system. Those navies provide their own version of IVCS for integration with the SVS. Including shore installations, DRS has installed more than 150 SHINCOM-based communications systems worldwide.
DRS expects to continue building the system for Aegis modernization and the Flight III Arleigh Burke–class ships. The company also is evaluating potential new opportunities for the system with the U.S. Navy, including the future frigate, and internationally with the Canadian and Australian navies.