Variant Type Radar High Technology In The World By Raytheon

Like ITT Corporation, Raytheon produces radars which have been in use for a number of years, namely the AN/SPS-49 2D long range air-search system, which entered service in 1975. This D-band product, which is ideal for long-range air surveillance, offers a detection range of up to 460Km. Joining the AN/SPS-49 is the company’s recentlyunveiled SPY-5 which is designed for ships displacing under 1,000 tonnes. The product is strongly expected to equip the G class (ex- Oliver Hazard Perry class) frigates of the Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri (Turkish Navy). Moreover, Raytheon also has the distinction of produicing the first AESA system in service with the US Navy, namely the Dual Band Radar which combines the S-band Volume Search Radar and X-band AN/SPY- 3Multifunction Radar, both will be deployed as part of the Zumwalt class destroyer programme for the US Navy.

The rationale behind the use of two different frequency ranges is to utilise the X-band radar for horizon search, with the S-band system being used for searches above the horizon. Raytheon is not only tasked with designing and manufacturing radar, the company also provides the Advanced Combat Direction System (ACDS) CMS installed on the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers of the US Navy, along with the Wasp-class amphibious support ships and the remaining Tarawa class LPDs. The ACDS is currently being replaced by the Ship Self-Defense System, also produced by Raytheon, which knits a vessel’s existing sensors and weapons together using Linux-based sytems architecture to give the ship’s CMS a similar performance
to that found on the Aegis combat management system.

Finally, no discussion of naval radar would be complete without mentinoing Israel’s Elta Systems portfolio. The company’s catalogue in this regard includes the Xband EL/M-2228 medium-range surveillance
radar designed for small- and mediumsized craft, which can perform air surveillance up to 50Km from the vessel. The Israeli Navy is currently in the process of replacing the EL/M-2228 with Elta’s EL/M-2258 Sband Advanced Lightweight Phased Array product which the company claims is the world’s first fully digital naval radar. The EL.M-2258 is built around a lightweight antenna weighing crica seven tonnes. A second
S-band product is manufactured by the company in the form of the EL/M-2258 3D Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar designed for frigates and corvettes for the detection of air and surface threats, while the
EL/M-2248 solid state conformal phased array is designed for small-sized ships such as offshore Patrol Vessels.

As far as the future of naval radar is concerned, the US Navy is moving ahead with developing the next generation via concept study contracts which have been awarded to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for the
development of tomorrow’s air and missile defence radar. These studies will no doubt work towards further reducing the weight of future naval radar, while at the same time ensuring their capability increases, particularly
as far as ballistic and anti-shipping missiles are concerned, and regarding the detection of small targets such as jet skis and inflatable boats which, as the USS Cole attack in Yemen in October 2000 illustrated, are becoming the sea-borne terrorist’s weapon of choice.