AN/SPY-6 explained

AN/SPY-6
Country:United States
Type:Air and missile defense active electronically scanned array 3D radar
Frequency:S band
Azimuth:0–360°
Elevation:Horizon–zenith
Other Names:
  • Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR)
  • Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR)

The AN/SPY-6 is an active electronically scanned array[1] 3D radar under development for the United States Navy (USN).[2] It will provide integrated air and missile defense for Flight III s.[3] Variants are under development for retrofitting Flight IIA Arleigh Burkes and for installation aboard s, s, s (LHA-8 and future), and s.

The first delivery of the AN/SPY-6 to the USN took place on 20 July 2020.[4]

Development

In October 2013, "Raytheon Company (RTN) [was] awarded an almost $386m cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase design, development, integration, test, and delivery of Air and Missile Defense S-band Radar (AMDR-S) and Radar Suite Controller (RSC)."[5] In September 2010, the Navy awarded technology development contracts to Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon to develop the S-band radar and radar suite controller (RSC). X-band radar development reportedly will come under separate contracts. The Navy hopes to place AMDR on Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, possibly beginning in 2016. Those ships currently mount the Aegis Combat System, produced by Lockheed Martin.[6]

In 2013, the Navy cut almost $10B from the cost of the program by adopting a smaller less capable system that will be challenged by "future threats".[7], the program is expected to deliver 22 radars at a total cost of almost $6.6B. They will cost $300m/unit in serial production.[8] Testing is planned for 2021 and Initial operating capability is planned for March 2023.

The Navy was forced to halt the contract in response to a challenge by Lockheed.[9] Lockheed officially withdrew their protest in January 2014,[10] allowing the Navy to lift the stop work order.[11]

In March 2022, Raytheon announced a $3.2B contract to outfit every new surface ship in the US Navy with the SPY-6 family of radars.[12] [13]

Technology

The SPY-6 system consists of two primary radars and a radar suite controller (RSC) to coordinate the sensors. An S-band radar is to provide volume search, tracking, ballistic missile defense discrimination, and missile communications, while the X-band radar is to provide horizon search, precision tracking, missile communication, and terminal illumination of targets.[6] The S-band and X-band sensors will also share functionality, including radar navigation, periscope detection, and missile guidance and communication. SPY-6 is intended as a scalable system, with each sensor array assembled from Radar Modular Assemblies (RMA), self-contained radar modules.[14]

The Arleigh Burke deckhouse can only accommodate a version, but the USN claims they need a radar of or more to meet future ballistic missile threats. This would require a new ship design. Ingalls has proposed the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock as the basis for a ballistic missile defense cruiser with 6.1 m (20 ft) SPY-6. To cut costs, the first 12 SPY-6 sets will have an X-band component based on the existing SPQ-9B rotating radar, to be replaced by a new X-band radar in set 13 that will be more capable against future threats.

The transmit-receive modules will use new gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology, allowing for a higher power density than the previous gallium arsenide radar modules.[15] The new radar will require twice the electrical power as the previous generation, while generating over 35 times as much radar power.[16]

Although it was not an initial requirement, the SPY-6 may be capable of performing electronic attacks using its AESA antenna. Airborne AESA radar systems, like the APG-77, APG-81, and APG-79 used on the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet/EA-18G Growler, respectively, have demonstrated their capability to conduct electronic attack. All the contenders for the Navy's Next Generation Jammer used Gallium Nitride-based (GaN) transmit-receiver modules for their EW systems, which enables the possibility that the high-power GaN-based AESA radar used on Flight III ships can perform the mission. Precise beam steering could attack air and surface threats with tightly directed beams of high-powered radio waves to electronically blind aircraft, ships, and missiles.[17]

The radar is 30 times more sensitive and can simultaneously handle over 30 times the targets of the existing AN/SPY-1D(V), allowing it to counter large and complex saturation attacks.[18]

Distributed sensing software allows AN/SPY-6 to form a network of bistatic radars, where forward-deployed sensors work in receive mode, while targets are illuminated by separate transmitters at the back.[19] [20]

Variants

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The US Navy -- Fact File: Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) . 2014-05-28 . 2014-05-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052754/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2100&tid=306&ct=2 . dead .
  2. Web site: AMDR Competition: The USA's Next Dual-Band Radar . 2010-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101013165643/http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/AMDR-Competition-The-USAs-Next-Dual-Band-Radar-05682/ . 13 October 2010 . live.
  3. Web site: Exhibit R-2A, RDT&E Project Justification: PB 2011 Navy . 2010-10-01 . 2010-03-15 . 2012-10-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121007040541/http://www.dtic.mil/descriptivesum/Y2011/Navy/0604501N_PB_2011.pdf . dead .
  4. News: US Navy takes delivery of new, more powerful radar . . 20 July 2020 . 20 July 2020 .
  5. Web site: Raytheon awarded US Navy next generation Air and Missile Defense Radar contract - Yahoo Finance . 2013-10-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131018171643/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/raytheon-awarded-us-navy-next-231900443.html . 2013-10-18 .
  6. Web site: New Radar Development Continues for U.S. Navy. 2011-04-01. Defense News. https://www.webcitation.org/6Ao6Ht5fb?url=http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4820730&c=AME&s=SEA. 2012-09-20. dead.
  7. Web site: "NavWeek: Radar Shove." . 2013-04-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140110224528/http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post:d46bef3f-532c-49fb-88ca-49dc05c512d0 . 2014-01-10 . dead .
  8. Web site: GAO-13-294SP DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs . US Government Accountability Office . March 2013 . 26 May 2013 . 117–8.
  9. Web site: U.S. Navy orders Raytheon to halt radar work after protest . Shalal-Esa . Andrea . 23 October 2013 . www.reuters.com . Reuters . 23 October 2013.
  10. Web site: McCarthy . Mike . 10 January 2014 . Lockheed Martin Drops Protest On Award Of Navy's New Shipboard Radar . https://web.archive.org/web/20140116033010/http://www.defensedaily.com/lockheed-martin-drops-protest-on-award-of-navys-new-shipboard-radar/ . dead . 16 January 2014 . Defense Daily . Defense Daily Network . 25 November 2018.
  11. Web site: Lockheed Martin Drops Protest over Next Generation Destroyer Radar . LaGrone . Sam . 13 January 2014 . news.usni.org . US Naval Institute News . 25 November 2018.
  12. Web site: 31 March 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense wins $651 million SPY-6 radar contract . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220402160210/https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/news/2022/03/16/spy6-hps-contract . 2 April 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
  13. Web site: 31 March 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense awarded $651 million to produce SPY-6 radars for next-gen US Navy ships . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220409165048/https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2022/03/31/raytheon-missiles-defense-awarded-651-million-to-produce-spy-6-radars-for-next . 9 April 2022 . Raytheon Technologies.
  14. Web site: U.S. Navy's SPY-6 Family of Radars . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220326050625/https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/what-we-do/missile-defense/sensors/spy6-radars . 26 March 2022 . 12 July 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
  15. Web site: The Heart of the Navy's Next Destroyer. July 30, 2013.
  16. News: CIMSEC Interviews Captain Mark Vandroff, Program Manager DDG-51, Part 1 . Filipoff . Dmitry . 4 May 2016 . cimsec.org . CIMSEC . 5 May 2016.
  17. http://news.usni.org/2014/01/17/navys-next-generation-radar-future-electronic-attack-abilities Navy’s Next Generation Radar Could Have Future Electronic Attack Abilities
  18. Web site: Raytheon's next generation naval radar passes milestone. Tamir. Eshel. May 12, 2015.
  19. Web site: 4 November 2021 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Office of Naval Research test new distributed sensing software for SPY-6 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220522211440/https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/news/2021/11/04/rmd-office-naval-research . 22 May 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
  20. Web site: 12 January 2022 . Q&A on Distributed Maritime Operations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220522211440/https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/news/2022/01/12/qa-distributed-maritime-operations . 22 May 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
  21. Web site: Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) . 2022-12-22 . www.navy.mil . en-US.
  22. Web site: Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) / AN/SPY-6 . 15 January 2023 . Missile Threat . en-US.
  23. Web site: SAS 2019 Day 2 - SPY-6, NSM for USMC, PGK, Freedom LCS & FFG(X), Navantia . YouTube . 2019-05-07 . 2021-11-20.
  24. Web site: Navy C4ISR and Unmanned Systems . https://web.archive.org/web/20160112032359/http://www.seapower-digital.com/seapower/january_2016?pg=93#pg93 . January 12, 2016 . Sea Power 2016 Almanac . . January 2016 . 91 . usurped . 16 October 2017.
  25. Web site: Raytheon Awarded $92M Navy Contract for Future Carrier Radars. August 22, 2016. USNI News.
  26. News: Rogoway . Tyler . Behold The Navy's New Radar For Nimitz Class Carriers And Amphibious Assault Ships . 12 September 2024 . The War Zone . 21 August 2019.
  27. Web site: 2 August 2021 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense, US Navy complete testing on Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220622002535/https://www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/news/2021/08/02/rmd-us-navy-complete-testing-on . 22 June 2022 . Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
  28. Web site: SNA 2018: Contenders for the U.S. Navy FFG(X) Frigate Program . Vavasseur . Xavier . Navy Recognition . 18 January 2018 . 19 January 2018.
  29. David B. Larter. With an eye to China and Russia, the US Navy plans a lethal upgrade to its destroyers. DefenseNews (Mar 21, 2019)
  30. Justin Katz. Raytheon to start backfitting destroyers with SPY-6 radar. Breaking Defense. (11 Jan 2022)
  31. Web site: The Air and Missile Defense Radar (AN/SPY-6(V)) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210804131528/https://www.raytheon.com/sites/default/files/capabilities/rtnwcm/groups/public/documents/image/amdr-infographic-pdf.pdf . 4 August 2021 . 15 January 2023 . Raytheon . 7, 11.
  32. Web site: Environmental Assessment for Installation and Operation of Air and Missile Defense Radar AN / SPY-6 . 15 January 2023 . Surface Combat Systems Center . 1-5.

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