The U.S. Navy’s new SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) has begun tracking ballistic missile targets in tests, according to Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and prime contractor Raytheon [RTN].
During the most recent test, which occurred March 15, a SPY-6 radar located at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii, searched for, detected and tracked a short-range ballistic missile launched from the range, NAVSEA and Raytheon said in separate news releases.
“The radar performed exactly as we expected it to during this mission – all systems were green,” said Tad Dickenson, director of Raytheon’s AMDR program.
NAVSEA and Raytheon said the mid-March test, called “Vigilant Hunter,” was the program’s first “dedicated” ballistic missile defense exercise. In early February, the radar at PMRF tracked a medium-range ballistic missile target that was fired from the range mainly to try out a new interceptor, the company said. The interceptor was Raytheon’s Standard Missile-3 Block IIA, which was launched from a destroyer to shoot down the target.
Raytheon said the missile tests followed a series of events in which the radar tracked aircraft and satellites. “Since installation at PMRF in May 2016, AMDR has tracked targets of increasing complexity, demonstrating that the radar is meeting its performance requirements,” the company said.
SPY-6 is being developed for the upcoming Flight III version of the Arleigh Burke-class DDG-51 destroyer. It is designed to provide increased range, sensitivity and discrimination accuracy compared to the SPY-1 radar used on existing DDG-51s.
Approval to begin low-rate production of SPY-6 is expected in September, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office. The $5.4 billion program plans to deliver the radar for the lead Flight III ship in early 2020 and buy a total of 22 radars.