US Navy awards RTX's Raytheon follow-on contract for continued support of SPY-6 radars

Raytheon was awarded a follow-on support contract for the SPY-6 family of radars, pictured here. (Raytheon)

The US Navy (USN) awarded RTX's Raytheon a USD536 million contract to provide continued support for the SPY-6 family of radars through training, engineering services, ship installation, integration and testing, as well as software upgrades to enhance radar capabilities, the company confirmed on 3 June.

The contract is a follow-on to the previously awarded Integration and Production Support contract and includes upgrading Flight IIA destroyers with the SPY-6(V)4 variant, the company said. Work on this contract is expected to be completed by May 2026.

Raytheon recently provided the SPY-6(V)1 radar for USS Jack H Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III destroyer.

Flight IIA destroyers are being overhauled and upgraded through a USN programme known as Guided Missile Destroyer Modernization 2.0. USN officials have confirmed the DDG overhauls could amount to about USD17 billion in total and the service wants to perform the installation in a Guided Missile Destroyer Modernization 2.0 single availability on two ships per year starting in fiscal year (FY) 2029.

SPY-6(V)4 radars have been scaled down from the SPY-6(V)1s to operate with the reduced power and coolant available on the Flight IIAs.

Naval combat in the Red Sea region is underscoring the need for the attributes now being proved out during testing of the AN/SPY-6 radar family, according to Scott Spence, Raytheon vice-president of Naval Systems and Sustainment.

“That's one of the driving requirements, to work in high-clutter environments [like the Red Sea],” Spence told Janes on 8 January during a briefing in advance of the Surface Navy Association National Symposium 2025 that month.