Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems has commenced testing of an engineering development model of a SPY-6(V)2 and SPY-6(V)3 enterprise air surveillance radar (EASR). The testing is happening at the Wallops Island Surface Combat Systems Center in Virginia, in collaboration with the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems. It will evaluate the system’s effectiveness against a mix of airborne targets through year’s end.
The EASR (V)2 is targeted at America-class amphibious assault ships and Nimitz-class carriers, replacing two older systems, the SPS-48 and SPS-49 air-defense radars. The (V)3 is planned for Gerald R. Ford–class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and the future frigate (FFG[X]) competition. Both variants are derived from Raytheon’s SPY-6(V)1 air-missile defense radar (AMDR) that will provide comprehensive ballistic-missile defense (BMD) and antiair warfare (AAW) defense for the Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke–class destroyers.
The company’s Integrated Defense Systems division upended the ship-defense radar world in October 2013 by winning the Navy competition for the AMDR. Lockheed Martin, longtime builder of multiple variants of the SPY-1(V) Aegis phased-array radar, also competed for the award. Lockheed Martin will continue to build the SPY-1 for the Flight IIA destroyers through DDG-124, as well as for DDG-127, also a Flight IIA ship.
Lockheed Martin also will build the Flight III combat system software, designated Baseline 10, for the AMDR. The new baseline provides for integrated BMD-AAW capability, as well as a range of other combat system functions.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) started construction on the first Flight III ship, the future Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), last May. Bath Iron Works will build the second Flight III, the future Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG-126). Both ships are slated for delivery in 2023. Scott Spence, Raytheon’s director of Navy radar programs, says the company already has won awards for seven SPY-6(V)1 shipsets. Deliveries are tied to the shipbuilding schedules. The company will begin delivering components of DDG-125’s system to HII late this year, and continue into 2020. Ancillary equipment such as power and cooling units will be staggered to mesh with completion of relevant ship spaces, he adds.
Spence says the EASR (V)2, a rotating radar, and the (V)3, a fixed-faced system, hew closely to the (V)1 design.“They’re new radars, but still part of a family of radars,” he says.
The company says the EASRs will use radar modular assembly (RMA) building blocks. Each RMA is a self-contained radar unit housed in an 8-cubic-foot cube. The SPY-6(V)1 AMDR incorporates 37 RMAs. Both the (V)2, a single-face rotating radar, and the three-face (V)3 will use 9 RMAs.
Spence says all three systems run the same software baseline, designed through the (V)1 development. The (V)2 and (V)3 also benefit from Raytheon’s adaptation in the (V)1 program of gallium nitride technology for the RMA transmit/receive modules. Gallium nitride allows for reduced module weight, contributing to enhanced speed and responsiveness.
Raytheon delivered the EASR engineering development model to Wallops in early March for system workups prior to the test missions. Because (V)1 system testing already validated performance of the RMAs, Spence says, the Wallops testing will focus on demonstrating new software written for the EASR systems to meet requirements for air-traffic control and weather monitoring. The (V)2 and (V)3 are AAW-only systems and are not intended to support the BMD mission.
Commonality among the three versions will improve maintenance, training, and logistics support. Operators training for any version will be able to cross over to support any of the other two, according to Raytheon. Replacement parts and components can be swapped out among all three systems, simplifying maintenance and logistics.
Spence says the company expects to receive awards for long-lead material for the EASR programs shortly. Following completion of the Wallops Island testing, Spence says, the company anticipates production awards for both systems.