Tag Archives: SPY-6(V)2

Navy, Radars

Air Surveillance Radar

The Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) antenna landed on the future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29), January 16, 2023.

EASR
Future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29) Successfully Installs EASR Antenna

This marks the completion of EASR system deliveries for what will be the first LPD-17 Class ship and the first U.S. Navy install and activation of the SPY-6(V)2, rotating variant, S-Band radar.

«The progress made is a testament to the collaboration across multiple organizations in bringing this next-generation radar to the LPD program. The U.S. Navy and our industry partners look forward to systems activation and testing as LPD-29 continues on the path to sea trials later this year», said Captain Cedric J. McNeal, Amphibious Warfare Program Manager, Program Executive Office (PEO Ships).

SPY-6(V)2 provides the U.S. Navy with a common hardware variant for carrier and amphibious ships. In addition to providing hardware and software commonality, the radar will also contribute to increased engagement and overall ship self-defense.

As with all incremental technology enhancements, the U.S. Navy is applying an increased focus to ensure that the system is provided on schedule, integrated into the ship/combat system and activated. Ultimately, EASR will be made ready as an integral sensor in an integrated Ship Self-Defense System to support the ship’s employment.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.

Navy

System-level tests

Raytheon Company and the U.S. Navy completed the first system-level tests of SPY-6(V)2, the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR), at the Surface Combat System Center at Wallops Island, VA. In the first test the radar searched for, detected, identified and tracked numerous targets – including commercial aircraft. In a second exercise, the maturity of EASR integration enabled the radar to track multiple targets continuously for several hours during a test event involving another system.

Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar successfully tracks first targets at Wallops Island Test Facility

EASR, the newest sensor in the Navy’s SPY-6 family of radars, provides simultaneous anti-air and anti-surface warfare, electronic protection and air traffic control for aircraft carriers and amphibious warfare ships.

«Moving quickly from radar installation at Wallops Island to ‘tracks on glass’ in less than three months is a major accomplishment», said U.S. Navy Captain Jason Hall, Program Manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems. «The EASR program is progressing extremely well. We are now one step closer to production and delivering the radar’s unmatched capability to the surface fleet».

Two variants of EASR are being built: a single-face rotating array designated AN/SPY-6(V)2 for amphibious assault ships and Nimitz class carriers, and a three fixed-face array designated AN/SPY-6(V)3 for Ford class aircraft carriers and the future FFG(X) guided missile frigates.

Both versions of EASR are built on scalable Radar Modular Assembly, or RMA, technology as well as a software baseline that has been matured through development and test successes of AN/SPY-6(V)1, the U.S. Navy’s program of record for the DDG-51 Flight III destroyers. Each RMA is a self-contained radar in a 2′ × 2′ × 2′ box. These individual radars can integrate together to form arrays of various sizes to address any mission on any ship. EASR also adds air traffic control and weather capabilities to the mature SPY-6 software baseline.

Upon completion of system-level testing in Q4 2019, EASR will shift from the engineering and manufacturing development phase to the production phase. The 1st delivery of AN/SPY-6(V)2 will be to USS Bougainville (LHA-8), the America Class Amphibious Assault Ship.

Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar