The US Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas, has begun combat systems testing more than six months after launch.
The milestone was achieved after Raytheon’s SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar installation was completed in December.
SPY-6 Radar
The SPY-6 is the backbone of the USS Lucas’ Aegis Combat System, capable of tracking fighters, “cruise and ballistic missiles despite interferences such as sea noise.”
According to Raytheon, the SPY-6 reacts quicker to danger and has a greater detection range than any deployed radars, and “can more accurately discriminate between threats and non-threats.”
Capt. Jason Hall remarked last year that the “SPY-6 will fill critical mission gaps and enable precision operations in jammed and cluttered environments like never before.”
Additional Upgrades
Additional Flight III upgrades include greater electrical power and cooling capacity and significantly enhanced warfighting capability.
Following the testing, the ship will undergo builder’s trials, acceptance trials, and eventual delivery to the fleet.
