Lu Yue Dragon Ball Wu Duanduan
At the request of the US Navy, the US military industry developed and produced the AN / SPY-6 perspective radar complex. The development of the radar complex is aimed at increasing the ship's ability to illuminate the environment and search for surface and air targets.
The history of the AN/SPY-6 project dates back to 2000, and the US Navy is beginning to formulate a plan to further develop the super surface fleet, and the establishment of radio technology and radar systems that are more suitable for modern naval operations has become a focus of this plan. Under this new program, in 2010, the Pentagon launched a race to develop a four-sided S-band radar (AMDR-S) and a radar kit controller (RSC). In 2013, the Raytheon Company won the competition and issued a $386 million contract to complete the development and manufacture of an experimental radar complex. According to the original plans, the complex was to be installed on the aircraft carrier in 2016 and was officially designated the AN / SPY-6 radar complex. The U.S. Navy has spent a lot of money and effort on this project, so what are the unique features and prospects of the AN / SPY-6 radar complex?
The AN/SPY-6 radar developed by the U.S. Navy
The AN / SPY-6 radar is versatile
AN/SPY radar is a long-range surveillance and navigation radar system. It is an active phased array radar system for monitoring and tracking air targets, as well as providing navigation and fire control support.
There are four models of the AN/SPY-6 family of radars, each of which has its own unique uses and advantages. According to the needs of the U.S. Navy's combat mission, the basic components of AN/SPY-6(V)1 will be installed on all new Arleigh Burke III-class destroyers; AN/SPY-6(V)2, also known as the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, is an experimental product for landing ships with higher sensitivity compared to SPS-48; AN/SPY-6(V)3 is mainly used on Ford-class aircraft carriers, and its outstanding feature is that the structure is relatively complex, and it is a modification without significant simplification; The SPY-6 (V) 4 is used on the DDG 51 Flight Type IIA destroyer, and it also has a high sensitivity, the same as the AN / SPY-6 (V) 2.
The USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) is the first aircraft carrier of the US Navy to have an AN/SPY-6 radar complex and is equipped with a new positioning system. The AN/SPY-6 radar complex plays a prominent role in the fulfillment of training and combat missions, in addition, in order to better serve the Navy, the crew of this technical system is constantly developing new equipment to identify potential design and software flaws in the AN/SPY-6.
In short, the AN/SPY-6 radar complex provides important technical support for the construction of the US Navy and provides strategic support for the US Navy in terms of key intelligence, surveillance, and search capabilities.
USS Jack H. Lucas with AN/SPY-6 radar installed
Technical characteristics of the AN / SPY-6 radar
The latest addition to the AN/SPY-6 radar is a modular, scalable system consisting of individual elements called Radar Modular Units (RMAs), each of which is a stand-alone radar spanning 8 cubic feet (0.22 cubic meters) and is mounted using standardized accessories and connectors for signal and data processing. At the same time, each unit is equipped with software, which makes it easier to maintain, train and support on a global scale. The modularity of the AN / SPY-6 radar allows it to have the variability to adjust the size of its area of action, which depends primarily on the size of the ship and the type of tasks they face.
With the use of modern computing tools, the performance of the AN/SPY-6 radar has been greatly improved, its sensitivity is more than 30 times that of the AN/SPY-1D radar, and the radiated power has increased by 35 times, which greatly improves the flexibility and effectiveness of the weapon system in combat operations against large and complex facilities. At the same time, the AN/SPY-6 radar uses a certain number of RMA modules to form a source phase antenna of the required configuration, and concentrates the electromagnetic pulses emitted by various elements of the radar into an electromagnetic beam, and then uses its high degree of pertinence to achieve the purpose of "blinding" the electronic equipment of the target aircraft, ship and missile.
Not only that, but the AN/SPY-6 radar also has multi-purpose capabilities to support long-range extra-atmospheric detection and ballistic missile tracking, as well as terrain local defense against air and ground threats. And the AN / SPY-6 radar is independent of the battle management system, which can transmit data through several different networks for integration with other radars that can detect different potential threats or threats from different angles.
The AN/SPY-6 radar being assembled
The significance of the development of the AN/SPY-6 radar
The development and production of the AN/SPY-6 radar is of special significance to the US Navy, as it is directly related to the development of the fleet's radio-electronic systems and the improvement of their capabilities in tracking and detecting targets. The modularity of the AN/SPY-6 radar and its ability to be installed on various types of ships allows the U.S. Navy to avoid the costs associated with designing and manufacturing numerous radar systems, while reducing maintenance requirements and significantly increasing the combat capabilities of the U.S. Naval Group. And for Japan, South Korea and other countries, the AN / SPY-6 radar also has good export potential.