The "cruiser in the cornfield"

"As a defense contractor, I ended up working on the AEGIS and VLS systems for almost 20 years. I saw it grow from a concept in a cornfield, to something which makes our Navy ships close to invincible."

Time to take another trip in the way back machine. In the very early 1980's, I was working for the Control Data Corporation. I had recently been given the opportunity to manage the RCA account. RCA was under contract to NAVSEA to build, test and deliver the new AEGIS weapon system. Back in the early 80's, the AEGIS weapon system was next to science fiction. It was the great leap forward in missile defense for the fleet.

RCA was headquartered in a sleepy little town called Moorestown, NJ. To get there, you flew into Philly, rented a car, and then headed across the river into NJ. As you were driving through farmland (back then) of NJ, a strange sight appeared. It was the superstructure of a Navy ship - right in the middle of some farmland. No water - just farmland. Once we arrived at RCA, I was told this was the now famous "cruiser in the cornfield".

The company I worked for built a (please don't laugh - this was a long time ago), 14" magnetic disk storage systems for the AEGIS program. The system we sold had a nomenclature of the AN/UYH-3 system, so we were a directed source to RCA. We did not have to go through the bidding system - we were already in.

On the second day at the RCA facility, the AEGIS program manager came up to my team and asked the question I hoped he would ask - "Would you like a tour of our cruiser in the cornfield?" I could not say "yes, please" fast enough. We received our visitor badges and went into this very strange looking building. 

Once inside, I first noticed how dark and cool it was. On the walls, were very large displays. There was a lot of action on the displays, as the radar (called the AN/SPY -1) was operational. As such, it was tracking flights taking off and landing at Philly. It did not look like any radar display I had seen. It was smooth and easy to read. I was like watching a giant TV. Everything involved with this AEGIS system looked like something right out of Star Wars. Little did I know I was looking at the future of a very important part of the United States Navy. 

Flash forward to today. The latest versions of the SPY radar is on many cruisers and destroyers in our Navy. The current version of the AEGIS system is hooked up to the Vertical Launching System (VLS) on dozens of ships. The AEGIS system truly is the guardian of the fleet. It can track many targets at the same time and direct the proper missile to be fired out of the VLS and destroy the incoming target. When is the last time the AEGIS system was used in anger? In the Red Sea, as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. 

As a defense contractor, I ended up working on the AEGIS and VLS systems for almost 20 years. I saw it grow from a concept in a cornfield, to something which makes our Navy ships close to invincible.

Serving in the Navy and working for the Navy as a contractor was a wonderful experience. I was lucky, I was blessed, to have been a part of both the AEGIS as well as the VLS weapon systems.