Avaya Federal Solutions Provides Communication Solutions for USS Gerald R. Ford

Avaya (News - Alert) Federal Solutions has said that it’s providing communications for the USS Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier currently under construction by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

 

The Avaya solution is based on Avaya Communication Manager 4.0 telephony software running on Avaya servers, voice messaging, audio conferencing, more than 1500 telephones as well as tactical terminals from L3 Communications.

 

On these Navy ships, the voice systems have to undergo testing and obtain certification for security, interoperability and resiliency. In addition, the systems require simultaneous support of legacy and advanced communications protocols and architectures.

 

Avaya officials said that to meet these requirements, all components of the Avaya solution for shipboard communications have to be certified by the U.S. Department of Defense - Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC).

 

The Avaya solution enables Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding to support traditional telephony features and interfaces to legacy shipboard systems. In addition, the solution can also simultaneously offer communications protocols and architectures, such as voice over IP (VoIP), session initiation protocol (SIP), and service oriented architecture (SOA).

 

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is reportedly the only shipyard in the U.S capable of building nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

 

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) represents the lead ship of a new class of aircraft carriers, and is scheduled to be delivered in 2015. The Gerald R. Ford Class balances improved war fighting capability and reduced acquisition and life cycle costs.

 

When completed, the USS Gerald R. Ford is expected to be 20 stories above water level and will be able to sail the oceans for 20 years without refueling.

 

According to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, the ship will be capable of carrying approximately 75 aircraft and 4,700 crew members and will feature a multitude of improvements over existing aircraft carriers, all designed to improve the combat capability of the carrier fleet.