More Navy Dual Band Radar contracts awarded to Raytheon
NewsAugust 03, 2012
TEWKSBURY, Mass. The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon contracts for the multimission air defense radar -- Dual Band Radar -- for the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) next-generation aircraft carrier. Raytheon engineers will improve the radar system's software to maximize power efficiency and prepare the radar suite for the next testing and evaluation phase.
DBR is a naval radar system capable of simultaneous, coordinated operation across two frequency ranges, says Kevin Peppe, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems vice president of Seapower Capability Systems. It is now in production for the Ford class aircraft carrier, where it will replace six legacy radar systems. The contracts have a total value of $53.6 million.
The radar system combines the best capabilities of the S-band Volume Search Radar (VSR) and the X-band AN/SPY-3 Multi-Function Radar, which work together in a complementary manner. DBR supports mission requirements such as anti-submarine warfare, self-defense/anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, land attack, situational awareness, surface search, naval gunfire support, air traffic control, and navigation.
The next test and evaluation phase comes after Navy personnel tracked targets with a multiband radar featuring a common radar suite controller for the first time. DBR simultaneously used the AN/SPY-3's and the VSR's search functions to acquire and track the targets. This event also showcased the system's ability to perform automatic handover from S-band to X-band in precision-tracking mode, a main feature of the radar and its single track manager.
The DBR was built on decade of work between The Navy, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.
