Congratulations to Planning Consultants, Inc. (PCI) Dahlgren, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMSEC, as it marks its 12th year serving the DD(X) guided missile destroyer (DDG) community!
Since 1994, when the earliest exploratory studies began, the PCI team has been an integral part of the DDG 1000 development. Today, twelve years later, PCI Dahlgren’s team of senior systems engineers is going strong supporting the U.S. Navy’s first large-scale investment in 21st century transformational technology – the newly designated DDG 1000 Zumwalt class destroyer.
DDG 1000 is a transformational warship. It will lead the way in the Surface Navy’s application of Open Architecture Computer Environment (OACE) standards, revolutionizing naval operations capabilities when USS Zumwalt is commissioned in 2013. The ship will have a new advanced vertical launching system with missiles for self-defense and for long-range strikes with the Tactical Tomahawk missile. It will also have two, fully-automatic 155-millimeter gun systems with long-range 60 nautical mile (nm)+ guided projectiles to support land operations in littoral or coastal waters. All the ship’s computer applications will run on a common redundant (backed-up by duplicate systems) computer infrastructure with operator access via standard consoles. This 14,000-ton, 600-foot combatant, while equal in size to today’s destroyers, will carry more firepower, yet will be operated by a 114-person crew, less than a third the size of current destroyer crews, with lower operating costs than today’s ships.
Operating from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren, Virginia, Collaborative Engineering Development Center (CEDC), the PCI team is fully integrated with its government counterparts in managing combat systems technical oversight for the DD(X) development contract that will produce the DDG 1000 class of surface combatants. The current team of six PCI engineers boasts more than 200 years of cumulative experience in combat and warfare systems engineering, including system engineering and analysis, technology research, systems integration, and fleet employment. They play key roles in design integration, technical certification, warfare system engineering, safety, and command and control (C2) integrated product teams (IPTs). They also participate in the combat systems requirements board (RCRB) and the Multi-Mission and Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection IPTs.
Growing and maturing as the DDG 1000 has developed, PCI’s DD(X) specialists have stayed at the leading edge of engineering and warfare approaches. And, this quest for continuous improvement has led PCI into other ship development programs including littoral combat ships (LCS), the multi-mission cruiser follow-on to DD(X), the CG(X), and, soon, the aircraft carrier CVN 78, which has yet to be named.
The team’s customers, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), the Program Executive Office, Ships (PEO Ships) (PMS500), and the PEO Integrated Warfare System (IWS), all highly regard the group’s work. One PCI team member received the coveted PEO, Ships “Vanguard Award.” And, the entire PCI team’s success can be measured by the degree to which its government customers call on its members as fully integrated and trusted participants of the DD(X) government team. This trust, matched by the PCI team’s focus and enthusiasm, has been a key factor in PCI’s continued success as lead systems engineer for the NSWC Dahlgren Combat Systems Department.
Congratulations, PCI Dahlgren, on your fine performance that led to this important service milestone! You are a valuable part of the AMSEC and EMA family.
