The US Navy has deployed a new AN/SPY-6 radar at the Advanced Radar Development Evaluation Laboratory (ARDEL) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), following completion of Near Field Range testing last month.
The installation marks the beginning of next-phase execution of the air and missile defense radar (AMDR) programme. It involves live test campaigns using air and surface targets at PMRF, as well as integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) flight tests.
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US Navy captain Seiko Okano said: "Delivery of the radar 13 months after System Critical Design Review is a testament to the maturity of the design and a reflection of the team’s hard work.
"The navy needs this capability today, and this keeps us on track to delivering this critical capability to the fleet."
The Raytheon-developed single-face IAMD radar, AN/SPY-6, provides sensitivity for long-range detection and engagement of advanced threats.
It uses active electronically scanned array technologies with solid state transmit to receive amplifiers placed behind each antenna element.
The AN/SPY-6 features a digital architecture that provides multi-beam capabilities to decrease anti-aircraft warfare surveillance frame times and improve radar performance in harsh environments.
In May 2015, the US Navy and Raytheon successfully completed a critical design review (CDR) of the next-generation AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR, which is scheduled to be deployed on the DDG-51 Flight III destroyer.
