Software, services, and expertise for the business of shipbuilding.

        • Achieve a Quick ROI
        • Sliced implementations and our expertise means a benefit from day one, without a lengthy setup.

        • Integrate, Collaborate, Re-use
        • SSI’s Open Shipbuilding Platform gives you a future-proof source of truth for your shipbuilding projects.

        • Change Management
        • Get visibility into changes, understand the impacts, and have the right information at the right time to execute the change.

        • Adapt and Innovate
        • Create a local or virtualized shipbuilding environment for your global distributed workforce.

        • Changing from Another Solution
        • SSI makes it easy to switch from other platforms and keep your existing data.

        • Design
        • The most significant opportunities to impact the cost of building and operating a ship are found in the design and engineering phase.

          Initial Design  |  Basic Design  |  Detailed Design

        • Build
        • Even a smaller shipbuilding project is immense in scope and scale. Manage the challenges that are unique to ship construction.

          Prepare  |  Fabricate  |  Assemble

        • Maintain
        • With the majority of a ship’s life taking place after it’s been built, it’s crucial to ensure that the organization has a clear picture of the vessel at all times.

          Digital Twin  |  Repair / Refit  |  Operations

        • Nexus
        • SSI Nexus is a community for users, creators, & implementers of SSI software.

        • SSI Certified Training
        • SSI Certified Training allows SSI users to access detailed training exercises, materials, courses, and certifications.

        • SSI Blogs
        • The SSI blogs are your place to get insights from our CEO into the intersection of shipbuilding and technology, see how shipbuilding is moving forward, and keep up with SSI news.

          Lighthouse Waveform  |  Shipbuilding Solutions

        • ShipConstructor
        • A complete line of solutions for the design, engineering, and construction of ships and offshore projects.

        • EnterprisePlatform
        • Tools to connect and share data across every system in the shipyard and make information available.

        • ShipbuildingPLM
        • The only truly shipbuilding-specific product lifecycle management (PLM) platform.

        • Company
        • Learn more about SSI and our leadership.

        • Locations & Contact
        • You need a partner with a global presence.

        • News
        • The latest on SSI and shipbuilding.

        • Events
        • Join us at our next event, conference, or trade show.

July 10, 2014
Client News
Missile Defense System
Missile Defense System

We are not allowed to share all the details but here is what we can say.  SSI’s ShipConstructor CAD/CAM software is used to help build several key elements of the United States Ballistic Missile Defense System.

These include not just sea components but parts of the land system as well. This is an example of how despite the fact that ShipConstructor is optimized for shipbuilding, the program’s flexibility and power make it capable of handling other engineering challenges involving complex metal structures.  

What we can talk about are some of the naval ships that are involved.

Arleigh Burke Destroyers under construction will be Aegis BMD equipped
The Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers under construction will be  equipped with Aegis BMD

SSI client Huntington Ingalls is building the DDG-113, and DDG-114 Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers using ShipConstructor software. These vessels will be equipped with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMD) which will allow them to shoot down enemy missiles in the air before they can do damage.

Below is a video from the US Missile Defense Agency showing the results of the “Stellar Ninja” tests with the US Navy.

Another connection to ShipConstructor and the missile defense system is the software’s use on one of the radar vessels that make missile defense possible. Since ballistic missile tests occur over vast expanses of ocean, fixed-based radars are not ideal for the tracking job. This is where highly customized tracking, test and ballistic missile defense support ships come into play.

Howard O. Lorenzen Missile Range Instrumentation Ship
Howard O. Lorenzen Missile Range Instrumentation Ship

The newest and most powerful missile tracking ship is the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen. This 534-foot long vessel packs a pair of state-of-the-art “Cobra King” active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars that are each a half a million pounds and the size of a three story building.

It was built at SSI client Shipyard VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula, Mississippi who utilized ShipConstructor for the detail design and production engineering of the vessel.

Conclusion

The Missile Defense System helps protect our future. ShipConstructor helps build it in ways beyond even what we as the developers of the product imagined.

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