On July 27, the U.S. Navy successfully conducted an AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) test. AMDR detected and tracked a medium-range ballistic missile target. AMDR is planned to equip the Navy’s new Flight III Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyers.
The Naval Sea Systems Command released the following statement concerning the test:
U.S. Navy successfully conducts AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) Ballistic Missile Test
August 3, 2017
PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE, KAUAI, Hawaii — The U.S. Navy successfully conducted another Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) flight test with the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) off the west coast of Hawaii, July 27.
At 2:05 p.m., Hawaii Standard Time (8:05 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) a medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii. AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR searched for, detected and maintained track on the target throughout its trajectory. The flight test, designated Vigilant Titan, is the second in a series of ballistic missile defense flight tests for the AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR.
“We are continuing to stress this radar by increasing the range and complexity of the targets and demonstrating the awesome capability and versatility of the Navy’s next generation Integrated Air and Missile Defense radar.” said Navy Capt. Seiko Okano, major program manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office (PEO) Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS). “AN/SPY-6 is the nation’s most advanced radar and will be the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s surface combatants for many decades.”
Based on preliminary data, the test successfully met its primary objectives against a complex medium range ballistic missile (MRBM) target. Program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
The culmination of over a decade of Navy investment in advanced radar technology, AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR is being designed for the DDG 51 Flight III destroyer to provide the U.S. Navy with state-of-the-art technology for integrated air and missile defense.
PEO IWS, an affiliated PEO of the Naval Sea Systems Command, manages surface ship and submarine combat technologies and systems and coordinates Navy enterprise solutions across ship platforms.