“Radar Revolution: Successful Design Review for Next-Gen Air and Missile Defense”

The U.S. Navy, in collaboration with Raytheon Company, has successfully finalized the critical design review (CDR) for the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR). This significant milestone confirms that Raytheon’s design and technologies are mature, producible, and come with low risks, aligning well with all radar performance requirements, on schedule and within budget.

This comprehensive review evaluated various technical aspects of the program. Key areas of focus included hardware specifications, software development, risk mitigation strategies, producibility analysis, program management, and cost assessments. The Navy’s stakeholders expressed confidence in the radar’s impressive progress and are assured of the program’s ability to deliver on time.

“Achieving this milestone underscores our team’s relentless dedication to enhancing technology maturity, managing risks, and reducing costs throughout all development phases,” stated Kevin Peppe, vice president of Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems, Seapower Capability Systems. “With the validation from our customer, we are poised to advance production and ensure the timely delivery of this advanced integrated air and missile defense radar for the DDG 51 Flight III destroyer.”

The Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase is progressing robustly, now over 40 percent complete. Raytheon credits its remarkable success to the adoption of an Agile development and management framework for the AMDR. This method effectively supports hardware and software design verification, enhances technology maturity, ensures producibility, and mitigates risks, thereby improving productivity, quality, and affordability across the program.

All components of the AMDR EMD phase are advancing smoothly, from software development to pilot array testing. Currently, the first Engineering Development Model production-representative Radar Modular Assembly (RMA) is undergoing rigorous testing in the risk-reduction pilot array at Raytheon’s Near Field Range in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Additionally, the team has provided the initial external combat system interface definition language increment to the Combat System Integration Working Group. This collaboration, involving experts from Raytheon, the Navy, and Lockheed Martin, emphasizes the integration of AMDR with the AEGIS combat system aboard the DDG 51 Flight III.