Navy asks Saab to build three more shipboard air traffic control radar systems for carriers and amphibs
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy shipboard surveillance experts are asking Saab Inc. in East Syracuse, N.Y. to provide three AN/SPN-50(V)1 shipboard air traffic radar systems to replace the Navy’s AN/SPN-43C radar aboard aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $41.7 million order to Saab last Wednesday for three AN/SPN-50(V)1 shipboard air traffic control (ATC) radar systems for aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
The AN/SPN-50(V)1 radar enables shipboard air traffic controllers to identify, marshal, and direct aircraft within a 50-nautical-mile radius of the ship. The order includes two on-board repair kits, and two depot spares kits.
This modification procures three AN/SPN-50(V)1 shipboard traffic radars and three onboard repair parts kits in support of new air traffic control surveillance radars.
The SPN-50(V)1 is the primary ATC surveillance radar system for Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, landing helicopter assault (LHA), and landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships. Saab won a separate $47.5 million order in December 2023 for three AN/SPN-50(V) 1 shipboard radars.
In recent years, the top 25 percent of the AN/SPN-43C frequency band has been reallocated to the fixed wireless access community prohibiting ATC and air search radar operation within 50 nautical miles of the coast, Navy officials say.
The AN/SPN-50(V)1 radar is one of the U.S. versions of Saab’s Sea Giraffe agile multi beam radar, functions as the primary ATC surveillance radar for manned and unmanned aviation aboard the Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and large-deck amphibious assault ships.
On this order Saab will do the work in Syracuse, N.Y., and should be finished by March 2027. For more information contact Saab Inc. online at www.saab.com/products/naval/surface-radar, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
