US Navy matures new SPY-6 radar variant

An artist's rendition of the Flight III DDG 51 shows the new AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR antenna array, which is slightly larger than current AN/SPY-1D(V) apertures. (HII)

US Navy officials, along with counterparts at US defence company Raytheon, are pressing ahead with technology maturity efforts on the latest variant of the sea service's family of AN/SPY-6(V) maritime radar systems.

Programme officials in late August completed a series of open-water tests, designed to evaluate the advanced tracking capabilities for the AN/SPY-6(V)4 version of the radar.

While the tests, held at the navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands in Hawaii, were geared towards achieving the initial live-fire test of the new SPY-6 radar, it also provided the first live data set for the new radar configuration, company officials said at the time. Raytheon is the prime contractor on the AN/SPY-6 maritime radar programme.

This critical data will help “refine the system for future testing and eventual shipboard deployment … allowing sailors to more effectively monitor and respond to potential threats in real time”, company officials noted in a statement issued at the time of the tests.

In the near term, the live-fire tests “demonstrated the radar's advanced tracking capabilities across different mission scenarios and validated years of modelling and simulation work”, company officials added in the statement. “The programme will continue with testing and system enhancements, leveraging common hardware and software across other variants to ensure seamless integration and scalability,” they added.

The August live-fire tests come months after navy leaders issued millions in production and modernisation contracts, designed to support shipborne command-and-control (C2) capabilities, such as the AN/SPY-6 platform.