Raytheon Co. and the US Navy successfully completed initial “lightoff” testing of the Dual Band Radar. The Dual Band Radar is an integrated active phased-array radar suite composed of the X-band AN/SPY-3 Multi-function Radar and the S-band Volume Search Radar, both of which radiated at high power during lightoff at the Navy’s Engineering Test Center, Wallops Island, VA.
“This is an enormous milestone for Raytheon and the Navy—demonstrating the reliability and effectiveness of the most advanced naval surface radar in the world,” said Raytheon Integrated Defense System’s Bob Martin, Vice President and Deputy of Seapower Capability Systems. “The Dual Band Radar provides unmatched mission capabilities and functionality, while delivering commonality and affordability for the fleet.”
The system will be installed on the Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000), Ford-class aircraft carrier (CVN 78), and other future surface combatants to provide superior surveillance capabilities and support ship self-defense across a broad range of missions. The Dual Band Radar leverages proven technologies to meet mission requirements in deep water and littoral, or near shore, environments. The radar supports a wide variety of mission requirements, including ship self-defense and anti-air warfare; anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface ship warfare; situational awareness; land attack; naval gunfire support; surface search; navigation; and air traffic control. The radar’s capabilities include horizon search; volume surveillance; fire control tracking; missile guidance; and illumination functionality for the Evolved SeaSparrow missile and Standard missile family. Following this successful lightoff testing, the radar suite will begin an extended period of operational performance testing.