Aegis BMD 6.0 will provide an increased BMD capability by incorporating the Air and Missile Defense Radar, now designated AN/SPY-6(V)1 , for introduction on the first DDG Flight III.
Built by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, DDG 125 will be the first “Flight III” ship in the Arleigh Burke-class of destroyers. The Flight III will incorporate the SPY-6 that will replace the existing SPY-1 radar installed on the previous DDG 51 ships. The ship will feature the Aegis Baseline 9 combat system that will allow the ship to simultaneously patrol for ballistic missile threats as well as combat traditional air and cruise missiles threats. Thanks to this “Integrated Air and Missile Defense” capability the vessel and its crew will have quicker reaction time, higher firepower, and increased electronic warfare capability, specifically for Anti-Air Warfare.
Raytheon’s AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar has now demonstrated its performance against an array of singular and multiple targets of increasing complexity. This includes integrated air and missile defense targets, as well as targets of opportunity, satellites and aircraft. It provides greater range, increased accuracy, greater resistance to environmental and man-made electronic clutter, higher reliability and sustainability than currently deployed radars. It is comprised of 37 individual radar modular assemblies (RMA), each of which is a self-contained radar.
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) is the naval component of the Missile Defense Agency’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Aegis BMD builds upon the Aegis Weapon System, Standard Missile, Navy and joint forces’ Command, Control and Communication systems. The Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, formally found Aegis BMD to be operationally effective and suitable. The U.S. Navy embraces BMD as a core mission. In recognition of its scalability, Aegis BMD/SM-3 system is a keystone in the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) for missile defense in Europe.
