The U.S. Navy, at land-based test site Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) in Moorestown, N.J., accepted delivery of the Navy’s AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar System Oct 7. SPY-6 will be installed on New Construction Flight III Destroyers starting with USS Jack H Lucas (DDG-125) in 2024. The radar will provide new and improved fleet capabilities, and installing and integrating it at the CSEDS will provide needed lessons learned to the Navy and its industry partners. The radar’s new Power Distribution System, for example, will be tested for the first time and integrated to support new SPY-6 operations.
At the CSEDS, where the AEGIS Combat System (ACS) and AEGIS Weapons System (AWS) are tested, a live array will provide critical testing input to ensure software (computer programs) and hardware (radar, weapon elements) function according to specifications. As part of their core mission, the team at AEGIS TECHREP provide expertise on ACS and AWS engineering and test and evaluation. As AEGIS TECHREP does with other elements, testing SPY-6 on land in a controlled environment will enable them to identify and correct issues before they are deployed to the fleet. The is the first project of its kind at the CSEDS since an array from the USS Cole (DDG-67) was installed in 2010.
Using those contracts, the AEGIS TECHREP team prepared the CSEDS building to support the array’s weight and power requirements. This drove the team to make major upgrades to the facility’s structure, electrical grid, and cooling plant. All this had to be completed without interrupting existing testing of AEGIS Weapons System Baselines occurring at the land-based test site. Finally, the team coordinated with the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport, and the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure the radar’s operation at the site would not adversely impact the surrounding environment.
