Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract by the US Navy to provide a full range of engineering services for upgrades on the ship self-defence system Mk2 (SSDS Mk2).

Awarded under the SeaPort-e IDIQ contract vehicle, the $12m task order could reach $61m, if all options are exercised over the five-year period.

"The system is critical to enhance the self-defence capabilities of the navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious ships."

Northrop will provide lifecycle engineering, system engineering and integration, and hardware prototype development, as part of the direction of the combat direction systems activity (CDSA), Dam Neck, Virginia Beach.

Replacing outdated components with open systems commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) computing hardware will enable the flexible deployment of the latest and more secure capabilities.

Designed to offer anti-air defence to US and allies’ aircraft carriers and amphibious vessels, the SSDS Mk2 reduces the detect-to-engage cycle by coordinating the existing sensors, self-defence weapons and countermeasures.

Northrop Grumman Information Systems maritime combat systems director Mike Barrett said: "The system is critical to enhance the self-defence capabilities of the navy’s aircraft carriers and amphibious ships.

"It’s important we continue migrating toward COTS equipment to improve performance and enable increased cybersecurity."

The latest SSDS Mk2 programme continues Northrop Grumman’s collaboration with CDSA to deliver enhanced services for naval combat systems.

Defence Technology