Missile Defense, Navy, Radars

Aegis Combat System

Raytheon Missiles & Defense’s SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) attained another milestone when the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) achieved «light off» on its Aegis Combat System, marking the beginning of on-board system testing and crew training for the ship.

USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125)
The U.S. Navy’s new guided missile destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) successfully launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on June 4, 2021, and achieved Light Off on its Aegis Combat System on December 17, 2021. Raytheon Missiles & Defense is working with the shipbuilder to integrate the AN/SPY-6(V)1, also called SPY-6, integrated Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) onto the ship (Photo: Huntington Ingalls Industries)

«This important milestone kicks off onboard testing and training with naval crews on the SPY-6 radars», said Kim Ernzen, vice president of Naval Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. «SPY-6 is the world’s most advanced surface maritime radar, and our team is ready to provide training and support to the Navy through this phase and beyond».

The AN/SPY-6(V) Family of Radars is the newest radar system for the U.S. Navy, performing air and missile defense on seven classes of ships. The SPY-6 family can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hostile aircraft and surface ships simultaneously. When compared to legacy radars, SPY-6 will bring new capabilities to the surface fleet, such as advanced electronic warfare protection and enhanced detection abilities.

SPY-6 is scalable and modular to support production for the U.S. and partner nations across all variants. This commonality supports standardized logistics and training for those who work on the radars.