Lockheed Martin [LMT], Raytheon [RTN] and Northrop Grumman
[NOC] yesterday said they submitted proposals to the Navy to design, build, integrate and test the new Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) for the future DDG-51 Flight III class destroyer.
All three companies were developing AMDR under Navy development contracts issued in 2010.
AMDR is the most significant upgrade planned for the Flight III DDG-51s. The scalable AMDR S-band radar and radar suite controller will provide significantly increased sensitivity for simultaneous long-range detection and engagement of advanced anti-ship and ballistic missile threats.
“Our team has advanced a mature, affordable and highly reliable radar system with substantial investment by our company and the Navy,” said Carl Bannar, vice president of Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems & Sensors business. “Designed with the sailor in mind, our modular, open hardware and software architectures minimize ship design changes, simplify operations and maintenance and enable capability improvements to accommodate future mission needs.”
In a statement, Raytheon said, “We are confident in our AMDR proposal, submitted to the U.S. Navy. We’re leveraging our extensive experience in the development and integration of large-scale radars to offer the Navy a highly capable, highly scalable, low-risk and affordable solution.”
Northrop Grumman also stated it submitted its final proposal for AMDR.
Lockheed Martin has more than 40 years experience in the design, integration, production, and sustainment of radars for surface combatants, providing a low-risk path to installation on the DDG-51 Flight III.
AMDR is to replace the Lockheed Martin-built AN/SPY 1 on DDG-51s. The Navy is seeking congressional approval to buy up to 10 Flight IIA DDG-51s under a multi-year contract, but plans to shift to the Flight III version around the seventh vessel in 2016 if AMDR is ready (Defense Daily, June 27)..