Raytheon Anticipates 5-Year Production Contract for SPY-6 Radar and Variants

The SPY-6 demo array was introduced at Sea-Air-Space 2019. *RAYTHEON*

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Raytheon is expecting a five-year contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command for hardware production and sustainment of all variants of the SPY-6 shipboard radar, a company official said.

Raytheon anticipates the contract award in September 2021 which will cover up to 59 radars, said Scott Spence, director of Naval Radars for Raytheon, speaking to Seapower Aug. 3 at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo at National Harbor, Maryland.

Raytheon now is in full-rate production of the SPY-6 family of radars, building at a rate of one per month, Spence said.

The company has been able to sustain a solid rate of production despite the COVID pandemic. Mike Mills, Raytheon’s SPY-6 program director, said the company delivered 12 SPY-6 arrays in a 13-month period.

Raytheon has delivered the first two shipsets of the SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), one for the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and the second, DDG 128. Spence said the company is starting deliver of parts for a third DDG.

Delivery of the first production SPY-6(V)2 rotating Enterprise Air-Search Radars (EASR) is planned Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the future America-class amphibious assault ship USS Bougainville (LHA 8) and the future San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29). Installation on the latter two ships will be made post-construction, Spence said.

The fixed-face EASR, the SPY-6(V)3, is in the engineering development phase for the future Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) and subsequent carriers of that class. It also will be the EASR for the new Constellation-class guided-missile frigate.

Spence also said the expected contract will cover backfit of some Flight IIA Arleigh Burke DDG with the fixed-face SPY-6(V)4 version during the ships’ mid-life upgrades. The company already submitted the technical data package for the back-fit to the Navy.

The SPY-6 is scheduled to achieve Initial Operational Capability on the Jack H. Lucas in 2024, according to Spence.