20 August 2019

USN EASR tests start at Wallops Island

by Michael Fabey

Raytheon and the US Navy (USN) recently completed the first system-level tests of the AN/SPY-6(V)2, the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) at the Surface Combat System Center at Wallops Island, Virginia, the company confirmed on 20 August.

Thanks in part to built-in commonality with the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) developed for the USN’s future guided-missile destroyer (DDG) fleet, EASR testing has begun at an accelerated rate, tracking targets immediately after installation, Scott Spence, Raytheon Naval Radar Systems senior director, told Jane’s .

“It’s been a very quick turn from the delivery of the system to get up and tracking commercial aircraft and other targets of opportunity on the range there,” Spence noted. “We’re into full testing now – we’re into a run. By radar standards, this is incredibly fast-paced.”

Raytheon has already started tracking targets with this SPY-6(V)2 testing radar recently installed at Wallops Island, Virginia. (Raytheon)

In the first test, the radar searched for, detected, identified, and tracked numerous targets – including commercial aircraft – Raytheon said in a release about the tests.

In a second exercise, EASR integration “maturity” enabled the radar to track multiple targets continuously for several hours during a test event involving another system, Raytheon said.

“Moving quickly from radar installation at Wallops Island to ‘tracks on glass’ in less than three months is a major accomplishment,” USN Captain Jason Hall, programme manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, said in a statement. “The EASR program is progressing extremely well. We are now one step closer to production.”

Testing is expected to continue through the end of the year.

Raytheon and the US Navy (USN) recently completed the first system-level tests of the AN/SPY-6(V)2, ...

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