US Navy awards $536 million contract to Raytheon for advanced SPY-6 radars
News, US June 4, 2025 No Comments on US Navy awards $536 million contract to Raytheon for advanced SPY-6 radars3 minute read
U.S. Navy has awarded defense manufacturer, Raytheon, an RTX business, a $536 million contract to support the continued development and deployment of the SPY-6 radar family. Raytheon is expected to complete the work under this contract by May 2026.
As part of this sole-source contract, Raytheon will deliver a range of services to advance and maintain the SPY-6 systems. These include engineering support, training, ship installation, integration and testing, as well as software updates designed to expand the radar’s performance and operational capabilities.
The agreement builds upon a prior Integration and Production Support contract and includes upgrading Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with the SPY-6(V)4 radar variant.
President of Naval Power at Raytheon Barbara Borgonovi said, SPY-6 is the most advanced radar in the U.S. naval fleet, providing ships a new level of defense against evolving threats.”
“This contract highlights the essential role of this technology in supporting the U.S. Navy’s technology roadmap for several decades to come,” Borgonovi added.
The SPY-6 radar system has been successfully installed on two newly commissioned U.S. Navy vessels, with three more ships scheduled for installation and currently progressing through different phases of testing in 2025.
In 2023, the U.S. Navy equipped its first vessel, USS Jack H. Lucas, with the SPY-6 radar, marking a major milestone in advancing naval self-defense capabilities. Over the next decade, the U.S. Navy plans to equip more than 60 ships with SPY-6 radars, significantly strengthening fleet defenses against air, surface, and ballistic missile threats.
SPY-6 Radar
The SPY-6 radar represents the next evolution in naval radar technology for the U.S. Navy. Designed to meet the increasing complexity of modern threats, the SPY-6 provides significantly enhanced performance in terms of range, sensitivity, and target discrimination.
As the backbone of the Navy’s future air and missile defense capabilities, SPY-6 radar system is a key component in modernizing the surface fleet and ensuring dominance in contested environments.
At the heart of SPY-6 is its modular, scalable design. Each radar is built with individual “building blocks” called radar modular assemblies (RMAs). The RMA is a self-contained radar antenna in a 2’x2’x2’ box. The RMAs stack together to fit the mission requirements of any ship – a feature that makes the SPY-6 family the Navy’s first truly scalable radars.
This architecture allows for easy upgrades and flexible integration across various platforms, from destroyers to aircraft carriers and amphibious ships. The radar is software-defined, enabling future enhancements through software updates without the need for significant hardware changes.
One of the most notable advancements in the SPY-6 family is the use of Gallium Nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology. GaN offers greater power efficiency and thermal performance compared to the older Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), allowing SPY-6 to operate with higher sensitivity and at longer ranges. This allows the radar capable of simultaneously tracking ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, and surface threats, all with increased resistance to electronic warfare.
The SPY-6 radar family consists of several variants tailored to specific platforms. The SPY-6(V)1, the most powerful variant with 37 RMAs, is deployed on the new Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Other versions of the radar include the SPY-6(V)2 for amphibious ships, the SPY-6(V)3 for aircraft carriers and cruisers, and the SPY-6(V)4 for upgrading existing Flight IIA destroyers. Each version maintains the core capabilities of the radar while adjusting scale and form to fit the platform’s needs.
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