A Virginia-based defense firm successfully completed its spy radar’s test in a maritime environment. Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6(V)4 radar showcased advanced tracking capabilities across different mission scenarios. Conducted in partnership with the U.S. Navy, the test showcases that radar can enhance naval vessels’ defense.
During multiple tests over open water, the radar successfully tracked air and surface targets under various conditions.
“The successful live demonstration of the SPY-6(V)4 radar is a major step forward in advancing the capabilities of today’s fleet and supporting allied operations worldwide,” said Barbara Borgonovi, president of Naval Power at Raytheon.
“The radar will allow existing U.S. Navy Flight IIA Destroyers to significantly upgrade their detection and tracking capabilities, allowing sailors to more effectively monitor and respond to potential threats in real-time.”
The company revealed that the tests yielded the first live data set for the (V)4 configuration, which will help refine the system for future testing and eventual shipboard deployment.
This is the next variant in the U.S. Navy’s SPY-6 Family of Radars to undergo live maritime testing. The program will continue with testing and system enhancements, leveraging common hardware and software across other variants to ensure seamless integration and scalability, according to a press release.
Over the next decade, SPY-6 is expected to be deployed on more than 60 U.S. Navy ships, enhancing defense against air, surface, and ballistic threats.
These radars can be integrated, meaning they can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles, hostile aircraft and surface ships simultaneously. They offer many advantages over legacy radars, such as greater detection range, increased sensitivity, and more accurate discrimination.
The company claims that these radars can optimize the effectiveness of the Navy’s most advanced weapons, including all Standard Missile variants.
Precise targeting information and data on incoming threats allows weapons to maximize their performance. Each variant uses the same hardware and software, and their construction is modular, making the SPY-6 family more reliable and less expensive to maintain.
Each SPY-6 radar is built with individual “building blocks” called radar modular assemblies. Each RMA is a self-contained radar antenna in a 2’x2’x2’ box. The RMAs stack together to fit the mission requirements of any ship – a feature that makes the SPY-6 family the Navy’s first truly scalable radars, according to Raytheon.
SPY-6 radar arrays are being delivered and integrated onto all the Navy’s newest ships, including DDG 51 Flight III destroyers, frigates, aircraft carriers, and amphibious warships, and are being backfit onto legacy DDG 51 Flight IIA destroyers and legacy aircraft carriers.
