US Navy LBS-Glider Programme
Teledyne Webb Research (TWR) has reached the second production milestone in the Littoral Battlespace Sensing (LBS) Glider programme with the US Navy. Along with Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc of Huntsville, Alabama, and the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab, the Teledyne companies have delivered the fifteen Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) Gliders to the Navy's Program Executive Office for C4I.
The LRIP gliders have passed their acceptance testing and the Milestone Decision Authority has approved entry into Full Rate Production (FRP). The first FRP option, if exercised, calls for the production of 35 additional gliders. The contract provides for up to 150 gliders in total. The value of the contract, if fully optioned, is just over USD53.1 M. The design and development phase of the contract was completed in August of 2010 and the Low Rate Production contract was awarded in the fall of 2010.
The Navy will use both deep and shallow water gliders in the LBS-G program to acquire critical oceanographic data that will improve positioning of fleets during naval manoeuvres. The gliders are low cost, use minimal power, and can remain at sea for long periods of time.
