From Typhon to Aegis — The Issues and Their Resolution

Abstract

The Aegis weapon system, now deployed in the USS Ticonderoga cruiser class and soon to be deployed in the Arleigh Burke destroyer class, is generally accepted to be, by far, the most capable ship AAW weapon system in the world. The concept for this system was developed in the mid‐1960s as replacement for the failed Typhon weapon sysem. During the concept design and early development phases there arose a number of key technical and programmatic issues. In retrospect, a different decision on many of these issues could have resulted in a much less capable system and, in some cases, to another system development failure. This paper first provides a brief description of the Typhon system concept and why it failed in execution. This is followed by the identification of key early technical and programmatic issues. Each issue is discussed, the options defined, and the final resolution described. With the benefit of hindsight, the impact on the system development from a different decision is suggested. Finally, an attempt is made to reach some general conclusions that could be of value to other similar development efforts.