USN Latest Radar Sailing Through Tests and Production
Raytheon announced on 10 October that its AN/SPY-6(V) radar – the US Navy’s (USN) latest – detected, acquired and tracked multiple targets in the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, HI, in mid-September. The system not only tracked multiple threats simultaneously but also a ballistic missile – through intercept – for the first time.
“AN/SPY-6(V) continues to impress through consistent performance against complex, surrogate threats,” observed the Major Program Manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, Capt. Seiko Okano. “With production now underway, we’re progressing – with confidence – toward delivery of this exceptional, game-changing radar, which will transform our naval capabilities for decades to come.”
The SPY-6(V) programme has met all milestones ahead of or on schedule since its inception in January 2014. The radar has demonstrated its multi-mission capabilities against an array of single and multiple, simultaneous targets throughout the Navy’s extensive testing programme and against various targets of opportunity. Now in production at Raytheon’s advanced Radar Development Facility, AN/SPY-6(V) remains on schedule for delivery to the first DDG 51 Flight III, the future USS JACK H LUCAS (DDG 125), in 2019.
The radar provides greater range, increased accuracy, greater resistance to environmental and man-made electronic clutter, higher reliability and sustainability than currently deployed systems. The radar’s demonstrated sensitivity provides greater coverage for early and accurate detection, which optimises the effectiveness of the Navy’s most advanced weapons, including all variants of Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6.
The inherent scalability of the radar – based on 2ftx2ftx2ft Radar Modular Assemblies – individual radar ‘building blocks’ – allows for new instantiations without significant new radar development costs. Scaled variants of AN/SPY-6(V) already designated as USN programmes of record include the back-fit radar for existing DDG 51 Flight IIA destroyers, the new and back-fit radars for aircraft carriers and amphibious ships, and the radar for the new guided-missile frigate, FFG(X).
