Editing Aegis Combat System (section)

== Development ==
[[File:USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway at sea, circa in 1980.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Norton Sound|AVM-1|6}} in 1980. The installation containing the fixed radar arrays of the AN/SPY-1A system can be seen mounted at the top of the forward superstructure]]
Aegis was initially developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of [[RCA]], which was later acquired by [[General Electric]]. The division responsible for the Aegis systems became Government Electronic Systems. This, and other [[GE Aerospace (1960s)|GE Aerospace]] businesses, were sold to [[Martin Marietta]] in 1992.<ref>Lenorovitz, Jeffrey. "GE Aerospace to merge into Martin Marietta" ''[[Aviation Week & Space Technology]]''. November 30, 1992. Accessed on July 19, 2007</ref> This became part of [[Lockheed Martin]] in 1995.

By the late 1950s, the U.S. Navy replaced guns with guided missiles on its ships. These were sufficient weapons but by the late 1960s, the U.S. Navy recognized that reaction time, firepower, and operational availability in all environments did not match the [[anti-ship missile]] threat.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hearings on H.R. 6566, ERDA Authorization Legislation (National Security Programs) for Fiscal Year 1978 |year=1977 |page=145}}</ref> The new threat of Soviet anti-ship missiles exposed a weakness in contemporary naval radar. The requirements of both tracking and targeting these missiles was limited by the number of radars on each ship, which was typically 2–4. In 1958 the navy started the [[Typhon Combat System]], a prophetic program culminating in the futuristic but unreliable [[AN/SPG-59]] phased array radar, which was never made viable and was cancelled in 1963 to be replaced by the Advanced Surface Missile System (ASMS).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.harpoonhq.com/waypoint/articles/Article_044.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-07-11 |archive-date=2017-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171118103754/http://www.harpoonhq.com/waypoint/articles/Article_044.pdf }}</ref>

As a result, the U.S. Navy decided to develop a program to defend ships from anti-ship missile threats. An Advanced Surface Missile System (ASMS) was promulgated and an engineering development program was initiated in 1964 to meet the requirements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navyweapons/a/aegis.htm|title=Aegis Cruisers|work=About.com Careers|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193341/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navyweapons/a/aegis.htm}}</ref> ASMS was renamed "Aegis" in December 1969 after the [[aegis]], the [[shield]] of the [[Greek mythology|Greek god]] [[Zeus]]. The name was suggested by Captain L. J. Stecher, a former [[Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System|Tartar Weapon System]] manager, after an internal U.S. Navy contest to name the ASMS program was initiated. Captain Stecher also submitted a possible acronym of Advanced Electronic Guided Interceptor System although this definition was never used.<ref>Lockheed Martin. "Aegis Heritage". Presentation. November 20, 2002.</ref> The main manufacturer of the Aegis Combat System, Lockheed Martin, makes no mention of the name Aegis being an acronym, nor does the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]].

In 1970, then-Captain [[Wayne E. Meyer|Wayne Meyer]] was named Manager Aegis Weapons System. Under his leadership the first systems were successfully deployed on various U.S. Navy vessels.

The first Engineering Development Model (EDM-1) was installed in a test ship, {{USS|Norton Sound|AVM-1|6}}, in 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=200&ct=2|title=The US Navy -- Fact File: Aegis Weapon System|author=Dan Petty|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-date=4 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204184720/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=200&ct=2}}</ref> During this time frame, the Navy envisioned installing the Aegis Combat System on both a nuclear-powered "[[strike cruiser]]" (or CSGN) and a conventionally-powered destroyer (originally designated DDG 47). The CSGN was to be a new, 17,200 ton cruiser design based on the earlier {{sclass|California|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Virginia|cruiser|0}} cruisers. The Aegis destroyer design would be based on the gas turbine powered {{sclass|Spruance|destroyer|4}}. When the CSGN was cancelled, the Navy proposed a modified ''Virginia''-class design (CGN 42) with a new superstructure designed for the Aegis Combat System and with a displacement of 12,100 tons. As compared to the CSGN, this design was not as survivable and had reduced command and control facilities for an embarked flag officer. Ultimately this design was also cancelled during the Carter Administration due to its increased cost compared to the non-nuclear DDG 47. With the cancellation of the CGN 42, the DDG 47 Aegis destroyer was redesignated as CG 47, a guided missile cruiser.

The first cruiser of this class was {{USS|Ticonderoga|CG-47|6}}, which used two twin-armed Mark-26 missile launchers, fore and aft. The commissioning of the sixth ship of the class, {{USS|Bunker Hill|CG-52|6}} opened a new era in surface warfare as the first Aegis ship outfitted with the [[Martin Marietta]] Mark-41 [[Vertical Launching System]] (VLS), allowing a wider missile selection, more firepower, and survivability. The improved AN/SPY-1B radar went to sea in {{USS|Princeton|CG-59|6}}, ushering in another advance in Aegis capabilities. {{USS|Chosin|CG-65|6}} introduced the [[AN/UYK-43]]/[[AN/UYK-44|44]] computers, which provide increased processing capabilities.

During 1980, the {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|2}} was designed using an improved sea-keeping hull form, reduced [[infrared]] and radar cross-sections, and upgrades to the Aegis Combat System. The first ship of the class, {{USS|Arleigh Burke}}, was commissioned during 1991. A notional design that incorporated the capabilities of a VLS-capable ''Ticonderoga'' with a hull and superstructure designed to ''Arleigh Burke'' standards, called "[[Cruiser Baseline]]", was studied although not built.

Flight II of the ''Arleigh Burke'' class, introduced in 1992, incorporated improvements to the SPY-1 radar, and to the Standard missile, active electronic countermeasures, and communications. Flight IIA, introduced in 2000, added a [[helicopter]] hangar with one anti-submarine helicopter and one armed [[attack helicopter]]. The Aegis program has also projected reducing the cost of each Flight IIA ship by at least $30 million.

Recent Aegis Combat System ships come with [[active electronically scanned array]] radars which use solid-state [[gallium nitride]] emitters. These include [[Canadian Surface Combatant|Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC)]] and Spanish {{sclass2|F110|frigate|1}}s, which use the [[AN/SPY-7]] radar from Lockheed-Martin, and {{sclass|Constellation|frigate|1}}s which use [[AN/SPY-6]] radar from [[Raytheon]]. AN/SPY-6 radar will also be installed in Flight III and Flight IIA ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyers, giving them Ballistic Missile Defense capability currently deployed on Flight I and Flight II ships.