The Hughes SCANFAR was the first

phased array In antenna (radio), antenna theory, a phased array usually means an electronically scanned array, a computer-controlled Antenna array, array of antennas which creates a radio beam, beam of radio waves that can be electronically steered to point ...

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

system to be deployed by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, installed on the and . It consisted of two search radars, the AN/SPS-32 and the AN/SPS-33. In 1982, the system was removed from ''Long Beach'', and was replaced by the

AN/SPS-48 The AN/SPS-48 is a US naval electronically scanned array, air search three-dimensional radar system manufactured by ITT Exelis and deployed in the 1960s as the primary air search sensor for anti-aircraft warships. The deployment of the AN/SPY ...

during a comprehensive overhaul. Aboard the ''Long Beach'', the system used

AN/SPG-55 The AN/SPG-55 was an American tracking / illumination radar for RIM-2 Terrier, Terrier and RIM-67 Standard missiles (SM-1ER/SM-2ER). It was used for target tracking and surface-to-air missile, surface-to-air missile guidance as part of the Mk 76 ...

radars for missile guidance. Despite its failure to enter widespread service, the lessons learned were applied to the follow-on Aegis Combat System and the associated

AN/SPY-1 The AN/SPY-1 is a United States Navy passive electronically scanned array (PESA) 3D radar system manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and is a key component of the Aegis Combat System. The system is computer controlled and uses four complementary an ...

passive electronically scanned array A passive electronically scanned array (PESA), also known as passive phased array, is an antenna in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions (that is, a phased array antenna), in which all the ...

(PESA) radar.

History

Prior to the development of SCANFAR, the Navy had been developing an advanced anti-aircraft weapon system combining an extremely advanced radar system, the

AN/SPG-59 The AN/SPG-59 was an advanced PESA phased array radar developed by the U.S. Navy starting in 1958. It was one of the earliest phased array radars. AN/SPG-59 was intended to offer search, track and guidance from a single radar system and antenn ...

, with a new long-range missile known as the

RIM-50 Typhon Typhon was a missile system developed by the United States Navy in the late 1950s, intended to serve as an integrated air-defense system for Navy fleets. Consisting of the SAM-N-8 Typhon LR, later designated RIM-50A, and the SAM-N-9 Typhon MR, l ...

. The radar was an

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

that acted both as a long-range surveillance system as well as the target illumination and guidance system for the missiles. The system proved to be beyond the state of the art, in particular it required a large number of individual broadcast elements that proved to be unreliable and expensive. SCANFAR was to some extent a simplified version of the SPG-59. The main radar would be used solely for surveillance, with target illumination being left to existing radar systems used with earlier missiles like the

RIM-8 Talos Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semi-active radar homing (SARH) ...

RIM-24 Tartar The General Dynamics RIM-24 Tartar was a medium-range naval surface-to-air missile (SAM), among the earliest SAMs to equip United States Navy ships. The Tartar was the third of the so-called "3 Ts", the three primary SAMs the Navy fielded in the ...

. During development it was found that attempting to use a single antenna for both search and tracking did not work effectively, so the system was modified to use two antennas, one for surveillance and another for tracking. Thus the system ended up using three radar antennas, and was, therefore, similar to earlier systems. An automatic tracking computer was added to the system in 1967. Also, in 1967, USS ''Long Beach'' detected and destroyed two North Vietnamese MiGs, utilizing the SCANFAR and Talos missile systems. In service, the system proved to be temperamental, due largely to the huge number of

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

s it used. Despite this, the "air picture" it provided was good, with over-the-horizon capabilities. In 1967, during a shipyard overhaul period, the ''Long Beach'' radar system was converted from electronic tubes to solid state electronic boards. Converting to solid state for radar and radio equipment lightened the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

by 20 tons. AN/SPS-33 was an

S band The S band is a designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum covering frequencies from 2 to 4 gigahertz (GHz). Thus it crosses the conventiona ...

radar with a pencil beam function that could focus a single radar beam on a target. The pencil beam could be manually operated. SCANFAR was eventually replaced by the AN/SPS-48E. *AN/SPS-32 was a horizontally wide rectangular antenna for air surveillance. *AN/SPS-33 was a vertical narrow rectangular antenna for target tracking. According to Navy documentation, the AN/SPS-33 was frequency-scanned in elevation and phase-scanned in azimuth.

References

;Notes ;Online *Dranidis, Dimitris V.
Shipboard Phased-Array Radars
''. Waypoint Magazine. February 2003. (Written to support war games, but informative.) ;Personal History Gary M. Farral RD2, USS ''Long Beach'' CG(N)-9 2 November 1966 to 28 December 1968

External links

Weaponbook
nbsp;— Not in English, but contains good pictures of the USS ''Long Beach'' with the SCANFAR radar anatennas.
Google cache of eDefense Online article
{Dead link, date=January 2015 Naval radars Military radars of the United States Phased array radar Military electronics of the United States

History

References

See also

External links