Raytheon delivers 1st SPY-6 radar to US Navy’s aircraft carrier

Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, has delivered SPY-6 radar arrays to the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the first aircraft carrier to receive the radar.

This delivery is the first of three for the aircraft carrier. Together, the three fixed-face radar arrays will form a SPY-6(V)3, also known as the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar.

According to the company, the radar is to provide 360-degree coverage for the ship. In addition to the multi-mission capabilities across the SPY-6 family, SPY-6(V)3 has features to meet the needs of an aircraft carrier, including weather mapping and air traffic control functionality.

Kim Ernzen, president of Naval Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense said: “With the recent contract, SPY-6 will provide … detection and coverage for more than 40 ships in the US Navy throughout the next decade.”

Under the contract signed in March this year, the firm will provide the radars for seven classes of ships.

The contract, with options, totals $3.2 billion and five years of radar production to equip up to 31 US Navy ships.

The SPY-6 family of radars can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hostile aircraft and surface ships simultaneously, according to the company.

The radars are expected to allow sailors to find threats, including hypersonic weapons, at greater distances, and to react faster to them.

Earlier on, Raytheon announced that SPY-6 radar installation is complete on the navy’s first Flight III destroyer, the USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), which is scheduled to be operational in 2024.

Radar array deliveries are complete for the next ship in the class, the future USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), according to the company.