Raytheon has commenced work with the US Navy to explore options for the accelerated introduction of the AN/SPY-6(V)3 S-band radar on board the service’s three DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers.
Jen Gauthier, Raytheon’s vice president of Naval Systems & Sustainment confirmed that study activity was examining options to replace the current AN/SPY-3 X-band multifunction radar with AN/SPY-6(V)3 from later this decade, several years earlier than previously planned. Naval News reported earlier this year that AN/SPY-6(V)3 radars originally manufactured for the now cancelled FFG-62 Constellation-class frigate program could now potentially be repurposed for backfit to the DDG-1000 ships.
The US Naval Sea Systems Command began work in 2022 to assess opportunities to improve the long-term supportability and interoperability of the DDG-1000 destroyers through the implementation of a so-called Zumwalt Enterprise Upgrade Solution (ZEUS). The precept of ZEUS is to replace unique-to-type DDG-1000 combat systems and sensors with analogous equipments common to other US Navy surface combatants.
The retrofit of AN/SPY-6(V) forms a core part of the navy’s ZEUS plan. One member of the wider AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar family, the AN/SPY-6(V)3 variant features three fixed array faces each populated by nine Radar Modular Assemblies (RMAs). An RMA is a self-contained radar antenna packaged in a 2 x 2 x 2 ft box.
Gauthier told Naval News that the AN/SPY-6(V)3 radar retrofit, as part of ZEUS, had originally been envisaged sometime in the mid-2030s. “But given the availability of hardware, the need for this system, and the fact that it is performing so well at sea today…we’ve been in discussions with the navy about potentially accelerating ZEUS to as early as a 2028 first installation on the first Zumwalt.”
“That is still in work, but we have actually been funded already to conduct a study for availability and for integration into [the DDG-1000 class]. So that’s an opportunity that we’re excited about because everybody’s seeing the value in SPY-6.”
Jen Gauthier, Raytheon’s vice president of Naval Systems & Sustainment
The US Navy is already working the retrofit of the AN/SPY-6(V)4 radar variant to DDG-51 Flight IIA guided missile destroyers. The AN/SPY-6(V)4, which features four array faces each with 24 RMAs, is replacing the Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-1D radar as part of the DDG MOD 2.0 upgrade programme.
Raytheon recently delivered and installed the first AN/SPY-6(V)4 radar array at the Surface Combat Systems Center at Wallops Island, Virginia. The SCSC will support testing of the radar and its power and combat system interfaces ahead of a first ship installation.
The DDG 51 Flight IIA destroyer USS Pinckney (DDG 91) will be the first ship to receive AN/SPY‑6(V)4. Pinckney is scheduled to be available for the SPY-6(V)4 backfit from late 2026 to 2028.
