Lockheed Martin Demonstrates Volume Search Radar Antenna

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.