Raytheon installed the first AN/SPY-6(V) radar 4

Raytheon completed the installation of the first AN/SPY-6(V)4 radar antenna team at a research station at the Surface Combat Systems Center in Wallops Island, Virginia. Radar will pass the tests there before installing on a prototype missile destroyer typu Arleigh Burke Flight IIA USS Pinckney (DDG 91).

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As RTX stated on 3 August, the work started is one of the most important stages of preparation for the DDG-51 Mod 2.0, including replacing existing AN/SPY-1D(V) radars with new AN/SPY-6 systems.

Radar tests before installation on the USS Pinckney

Surface Combat Systems Center is a terrestrial research centre located above the open water, allowing you to check the operation of ship's radiolocation systems in similar conditions to sea.

During the tests the action will be checked AN/SPY-6(V) radar 4 and its cooperation with its intended power supply and combat system. This is intended to detect and remove possible problems even before installation on the destroyer begins.

The research on Wallops Island is due to begin in 2026 and last until mid-2028. During the same period of USS Pinckney to undergo shipbuilding related to the installation of new radar. Prior examination of its main elements should limit the scope of the trials already carried out on the ship and thus shorten its stay at the shipyard.

The program is attended by the US Navy, the NASA team responsible for the Wallops Island resort, and companies involved in the production and integration of equipment. Experience gained during trials and modernisation of the USS Pinckney They posed for the use of this knowledge when installing AN/SPY-6(V)4 radars on subsequent Flight IIA destroyers.

AN/SPY-6(V)4 will replace AN/SPY-1D(V) radar

AN/SPY-6(V)4 is one of the four variants of the AN/SPY-6(V) radar family and was developed to upgrade Arleigh Burke Flight IIA destroyers. Its antennas will be mounted in locations currently occupied by AN/SPY-1D(V) radar antennas, therefore their dimensions had to be adapted to the space available in the superstructures of ships.

Radar uses modular RMA antenna assemblies measuring 61×61 cm, each containing 144 broadcasting and receiving modules made in galium nitride technology. Such construction allows to create antennas of different sizes and parameters, and the damaged RMA assembly can be replaced without dismantling the entire antenna.

Each AN/SPY-6(V)4 antenna will consist of 24 RMA teams. For comparison in antennas of larger variant AN/SPY-6(V)1, re-installed destroyers Arleigh Burke type Flight III, used after 37 such teams.

New capabilities of Flight IIA missile destroyers

The installation of AN/SPY-6(V)4 radars is intended to increase the capability of destroyers to detect and track air, water and ballistic missiles. The system is also intended to provide greater resistance to radio-electronic interference and allow simultaneous tracking of more objects.

Modernization will bring the Flight IIA's radiolocation capabilities closer to the newly built Flight III ships that receive AN/SPY-6(V)1 radars already during construction. However, this does not mean matching the parameters of both versions, as smaller AN/SPY-6(V)4 antennas do not match the performance of larger antennas mounted on Flight III units.

SPY-6 radars will hit over 50 U.S. Navy ships

Various versions of AN/SPY-6(V) family radars are already on two ships accepted for service in the US Navy. Systems were also installed on another 11 units that undergo the required tests before raising the flag.

Over the next decade, AN/SPY-6(V) radars are expected to be on over 50 U.S. Navy ships, both newly built and upgraded. Individual versions of the system are designed, among other things, for Arleigh Burke destroyers, rocket frigate type Constellation, Gerald R. Ford aircraft carriers and landing ships.

The American company has allocated around $800 million to upgrade radar production facilities and increase their production capacity. The company assumes that by 2028 it will be able to double the production rate of AN/SPY-6(V) systems, securing supplies for new ships and units undergoing modernization.