Raytheon Company and the US Navy recently completed a critical design review (CDR) for the Dual Band Radar, which will be installed on the Navy’s next-generation aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
The DBR, produced by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), is the Navy’s most advanced multifunction radar; it will provide superior surveillance capabilities supporting air operations and ship self defense. Leveraging advanced technologies to meet the carrier mission requirements in both deep water and littoral environments, DBR will be the US Navy’s most capable radar and a critical asset for the fleet.
The review demonstrated that the radar, currently in production for the Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000), meets the critical operational requirements of the Ford-class aircraft carrier. As a result of DBR’s modular, open architecture design, only minor modifications need to be made to accommodate specific platform differences between DDG 1000 and CVN 78. The DBR’s open architecture design provides the flexibility to adapt the radar to different naval surface combatant platforms, combat systems and missions.
“This review validates the open architecture benefits and the advanced capabilities of the Dual Band Radar, which is a tremendous advantage for America’s new aircraft carrier class as well as other ships in the fleet,” said Raytheon IDS’ Bob Martin, vice president and deputy of Seapower Capability Systems. “The system provides the warfighter with an unmatched combination of capability, interoperability, affordability, and reliability.”
The successful critical design review confirms that the DBR components tailored for CVN 78 have been assessed by the Navy as ready to transition into production. Captain Frank Arata, US Navy Program Executive Office, Integrated Warfare Systems (CVN Integration), validated the program milestone and declared the CDR “outstanding.”
The Dual Band Radar combines the benefits of S-band and X-band radar capabilities to provide superior performance in a broad range of environments against a variety of threats; its innovative design greatly reduces manning.
The radar supports a wide variety of mission requirements, including ship self defense and anti-air warfare; anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; situational awareness; land attack; naval gunfire support; surface search; navigation; and air traffic control. The radar’s capabilities include horizon search; volume surveillance; and fire control tracking, missile guidance and illumination for the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile and Standard Missile.
Designed to support growth requirements to meet emerging missions, Dual Band Radar is easily enhanced to add new mission capabilities, such as ballistic missile defense.
Work on CVN 78 DBR is performed at Raytheon IDS Headquarters, Tewksbury, Mass., and at the Surveillance and Sensors Center, Sudbury, Mass.
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