Lockheed Martin completed an on-time demonstration of the new
Volume Search Radar (VSR) antenna for the U.S. Navy's DDG-1000
next-generation destroyer program.
The demonstration represents the completion of a key milestone
qualifying the antenna to move on to the next phase of radar testing, which
includes interfacing the VSR antenna with the separate Dual-Band Radar
signal/data processor and receiver/exciter cabinet that Raytheon is
developing for DDG-1000.
The VSR is a three-dimensional surveillance radar that searches,
detects and tracks missiles, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles at long
ranges. The most critical components of the antenna are the solid state
Transmit/Receive modules, which are multiple-function circuits that
transmit signal power over the full face of the radar, receive the
reflected radar signal and amplify it for processing. It also includes
solid state phase shifters that steer the transmitted beams.
The demonstration testing was conducted at Lockheed Martin's Solid
State Near Field Test Facility in Moorestown. The 11,300-square-foot
facility for the precision alignment of high-technology radar was built by
the company in 2005 partly to support the DDG-1000 program. In addition to
this facility, Lockheed Martin recently opened the Joint Solid State
Advanced Radar Center to support research, development and integration of
future technologies and advanced mission requirements into radar systems.
Following testing in Moorestown, the VSR antenna will be transferred to
a land-based test facility in 2007 where it will be further integrated with
an X-band antenna -- which is the second band of the DDG-1000 Dual Band
Radar -- for testing.