U.S. Navy reports successful AN/SPY-6(V) missile-defense test
NewsAugust 16, 2017
PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE, KAUAI, Hawaii. The U.S. Navy reports that it successfully conducted another ballistic missile defense (BMD) flight test at the end of July with the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR).
Navy sources say that a medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. The Raytheon-built AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR searched for, detected, and maintained track on the target throughout its trajectory. Raytheon officials say that the AN/SPY-6(V) provides greater capability – in the areas of range, sensitivity, and discrimination accuracy – than currently deployed radars, which thereby increases battlespace, situational awareness, and reaction time. It is also the first scalable radar, as it is built with radar modular assemblies (RMAs), essentially radar building blocks: Each RMA -- roughly two feet by two feet by two feet in size -- is a standalone radar that can be grouped to build any size radar aperture. The flight test, designated Vigilant Titan, was the second in a series of ballistic missile defense flight tests for the AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR. The plan is for the AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR to be integrated onto the DDG 51 Flight III Arleigh Burke-class naval destroyer warships.
