Photo By Anna Taylor | Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport employee Justin Cheung was recently...... read more read more
Subscribe
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport employee Justin Cheung was recently honored with the 2024 Department of the Navy Small Program Outstanding Tester Award (Civilian Category).
This prestigious award recognizes civilian members of the Navy’s test and evaluation workforce who demonstrate exceptional leadership and innovation. Cheung, a project lead supporting the MK 28 Target and Tracking In-Service Engineering Agent, received it in recognition of his exceptional leadership and technical management as team lead for the Airborne Tactically Integrated Sensor project.
"Mr. Justin Cheung consistently demonstrated outstanding technical expertise, team building, test planning, and test execution as the Team Lead for the A-TIS project,” stated the award citation. “Through his considerable efforts, he and his team successfully demonstrated and fielded an innovative undersea warfare tracking system which provides a significant improvement in the Navy's open-ocean ranging capabilities at a reduced cost for both the Test and Evaluation and Fleet Training communities.”
Cheung and his team effectively leveraged existing technologies and moved quickly through development cycles to deliver the A-TIS on time and under budget. Its rapid development was facilitated by a partnership with the Air Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems Program Office PMA-264, which had already certified its airborne acoustic processing and analysis systems for fleet use.
A-TIS supports a range of underwater T&E objectives, including Service Weapons Test tracking of warshot torpedoes, training of Forward Deployed Naval Forces, and pinger less open ocean tracking and evaluation of weapons and other surface or subsurface test vehicle like the Compact Rapid Attack Weapon. The system also enables rapid recovery of fired weapons, preventing the loss of high-value assets.
"This system is a significant advancement in the Navy's underwater tracking capabilities," said Dawn Rodes, Naval Sea Systems Command 05H Test & Evaluation program manager and sponsor for the A-TIS project. "Justin is the example we should all strive for in our careers. He’s dedicated, insightful and an incredible hard worker."
The award citation also praised Cheung’s direct involvement in managing the project’s logistics, crediting his efforts with ensuring its success despite numerous challenges. These challenges included coordinating the delivery of critical components, such as sonobuoys and exercise weapons, to test sites both domestically and overseas.
“[Cheung] meets challenges head-on and figures it out," said Rodes. I don’t think there’s anything that he’s come across where he doesn’t just take hold of it by the horns and gets it done. He's the person everybody wants on their team.”
Cheung’s supervisor, Derek Dwyer, head of the Undersea Distributed Test and Range Sustainment Division Fleet Test Branch, added, “He has a fierce care for his team members and a dedication to delivering for the fleet, and he has the tenacity to ensure that everything is answered and squared away."
Looking ahead, Cheung sees the A-TIS system as a foundation for future innovation that will provide significant value to the Navy and the nation.
“There’s untapped potential for this system,” he said. “I think it's a really unique system. […] I feel like this is just the beginning of a longer journey that I have every expectation is going to far outlive my career."
Cheung and his team are currently exploring new applications and partnerships with other key defense programs to further develop the system's capabilities. Among other things, they are exploring the integration of A-TIS with fixed ranges and other sensor systems as well as adding the ability to export data in real time to other C2I systems.
-KPT-
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Keyport is headquartered in the state of Washington on the Puget Sound, about 10 miles west of Seattle. To provide ready support to Fleet operational forces at all major Navy homeports in the Pacific, NUWC Division, Keyport maintains detachments in San Diego, California and Honolulu, Hawaii, and remote operating sites in Guam; Japan; Hawthorne, Nevada; and Portsmouth, Virginia. At NUWC Division, Keyport, our diverse and highly skilled team of engineers, scientists, technicians, administrative professionals and industrial craftsmen work tirelessly to develop, maintain and sustain undersea warfare superiority for the United States.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2025 14:19 |
| Story ID: | 498486 |
| Location: | KEYPORT, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NUWC Division, Keyport project lead receives prestigious U.S. Navy tester award, by Frank Kaminski, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
