The Navy has begun working through the specifications required to introduce the new Air Missile Defense Radar to the Aegis air and ballistic missile defense combat system deployed on Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers, the service’s program manager for Aegis said Jan. 14.
Capt. Tom Druggan said that since the preliminary design review (PDR) of the AMDR hardware was completed in the last year, determining the interface specifications to integrate the AMDR into Aegis is the next step.
So far, the process has gone smoothly and no major challenges have arisen, Druggan said. “Nothing has come out of that saying ‘our hair is on fire, we’re having huge issues’,” he said during the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium being held this week just outside Washington.
The Navy has been working with Raytheon [RTN], the prime contractor for AMDR, and Lockheed Martin [LMT], the provider of Aegis, to work through the details. Druggan said the bigger challenge ahead will be implementing the interface specifications to allow the two systems two operate together, although he also anticipates no major problems.
“We’re on track to do the specifications,” he said. “The harder part will be implementing those specifications on the interface, but it’s straightforward engineering work.”
AMDR is the main feature of the Navy’s planned flight III version of the Arleigh Burke destroyers. The first of the flight III ships is scheduled to go under contract for construction in 2016.
AMDR is more powerful than the Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-1 radar that guides missiles to targets and is currently active on destroyers and cruisers, but will be succeeded by AMDR on the flight III destroyers. AMDR is designed to be able to detect and track more advanced threats than the SPY-1.
The flight III ships will require some re-engineering to accommodate AMDR’s larger size and powering and cooling requirements.
Raytheon prevailed over Lockheed Martin, the maker of the SPY-1, and Northrop Grumman [NOC], for a 2013 contract award in the Navy’s competition to provide the AMDR.
Capt. Mark Vandroff, the program manager for the Arleigh Burkes, has said AMDR will also require a slight redesign of the ship’s stern to increase buoyancy.
The Navy expects to request engineering change proposals (ECPs) from the two DDG-51 shipbuilders in 2016 if AMDR stays on schedule. If not, the Navy could continue to build the flight IIA version of the ships until AMDR is ready.
General Dynamics [GD] Bath Iron Works and Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] are the two prime contractors for the DDG-51 hulls.