SURFLANT Organizes SPY-1 Radar and BMD Summit

Naval Surface Force Atlantic (SURFLANT) hosted its semi-annual SPY-1 Radar and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) systems summit for the Aegis BMD surface force community at Naval Station Norfolk, Feb. 3-5.

Waterfront SPY technicians, BMD teams, link response teams, their chains of command and the technical, training, and industry communities that support Sailors, were invited to the summit to discuss SPY maintenance requirements, fleet issues, and overall program updates with subject matter experts.

Rear Adm. Pete A. Gumataotao, SURFLANT commander, said:

Our continuous goal at SURFLANT is to improve readiness so that we can better support the warfighting community. A confabulation between the operational Sailors and the tactical and technical communities, who equip them, assists SURFLANT in keeping the waterfront more fully trained and equipped.

The summit encouraged a symmetrical dialogue between Sailors in the fleet and the technical communities so that both understood the direction the technical community is heading and the challenges faced by the fleet.

Waterfront operators and technical communities were brought together to discuss current SPY and BMD materiel readiness initiatives and to communicate and educate at the operator level.

During an overall program update Sailors from various BMD surface ships were given a glimpse at the upcoming updates to the Aegis BMD systems and variants of their missiles.

The summit is one component in SURFLANT’s overall program that is working toward improving the tactical and technical competence in surface warfare.

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Image: US Navy