| DCM is the Weapons Interface
Equipment which has been in service with various classes of Royal Navy
submarines since the early 1980s. Located in the submarine fore-ends,
this equipment was originally an integral part of the DCB Fire Control
System which included Fire Control Consoles and Computers. The Fire Control
Consoles and Computers were eventually superseded by SMCS,
but the fore ends Weapons Interface Equipment was retained in service
and re-designated DCM.
DCM comprises various cabinets which accommodate modules
to provide weapon power, control/interface and weapon simulation. Cabinets
are configured for either Port or Starboard tubes, module sets within
the cabinets being dedicated to their respective tube and selected as
required by the weapon type loaded. Interfacing with new weapon variants
is also supported this way through the introduction of new module sets.
Since the middle to late 1980s, weapon control/interface
modules have incorporated increasingly more powerful processor technology
which has made possible the development of modules capable of supporting
more than one weapon type. This and the need to support mixed weapon outloads
resulted in the development of a ‘multi-weapon’ capable module set. The
first ‘common module set’ entered service during the late 1980s and supported
the Spearfish torpedo and RNSH missile. By the early 1990s, Ultra and
Lockheed Martin were successful in winning the MoD contract to introduce
Tomahawk into Royal Navy submarines and this resulted in the further evolution
of the ‘common module’ to the current ‘Tri-Weapon Module’ which supports
Spearfish, RNSH and Tomahawk.
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