The AN/SPS-49 is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

two-dimensional, long range air search

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

built by

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S. fleet and in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

aboard s,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

on its (prior to FELEX mid-life upgrade) and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

on its s. It formerly served in a complementary role aboard

Aegis The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...

cruisers with the

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

but the systems are currently being removed during routine upgrade with no replacement.

Operation

First tested in 1965 aboard and introduced in 1975, the AN/SPS-49 operates in the 851–942 MHz, or L-, band and has a range of . The orange-peel parabolic shape of the antenna creates a narrow 3.3°-beam to reduce the probability of detection or jamming. It can rotate at 6 rpm in long range mode or 12 rpm in short-range mode. Default is at 12 rpm for the AN/SPS-49A(V)1, to provide more frequent scans against incoming missiles. The SPS-49A(V)1 can detect out to its full range at either 6 or 12 rpm. The antenna is stabilised to compensate for ships pitch and roll, to a maximum of +/-15° for both pitch and roll in 12 rpm mode, and +/-23.5° for both pitch and roll in 6 rpm mode. The output stage of the transmitter in all variants uses a two-cavity

klystron A klystron is a specialized linear-beam vacuum tube, invented in 1937 by American electrical engineers Russell and Sigurd Varian,Pond, Norman H. "The Tube Guys". Russ Cochran, 2008 p.31-40 which is used as an amplifier for high radio frequen ...

amplifier. Combat systems of the FFG-7 class

In 1998, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense reported that SPS-40 and SPS-49 radars in Bahrain were "unusable because the equipment operates on a frequency that interferes with the Bahrain telecommunications services".

Onboard ships

United States

* * * * * * * *

Italy

* *

Australia

Canada

New Zealand

* ''Te Kaha''-class frigate (Replaced with SMART-S as part of the FSU programme in the early 2020s) SPS-49(V)8 ANZ

South Korea

Variants

As of 2014, there are eleven configurations of the AN/SPS-49(V). * AN/SPS-49(V)1: Baseline radar (Various CVN, LHA, LSD and other ships) * AN/SPS-49(V)2: (V)1 radar without the coherent side lobe cancellation feature (s) * AN/SPS-49(V)3: (V)1 radar with the radar video processor (RVP) interface (FC-1) () * AN/SPS-49(V)4: (V)2 with the RVP interface (s) * AN/SPS-49(V)5: (V)1 with automatic target detection (ATD) (

New Threat Upgrade New Threat Upgrade (NTU) was a United States Navy program to improve and modernize the capability of existing cruisers and destroyers equipped with Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft systems, keeping them in service longer. The Program was select ...

(NTU) ships) * AN/SPS-49(V)6: (V)3 system with double shielded cables and a modified cooling system () * AN/SPS-49(V)7: (V)5 system with a (V)6 cooling system (

Aegis combat system The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by ...

) * AN/SPS-49(V)8: (V)5 system enhanced to include the AEGIS Tracker modification kit (

) * AN/SPS-49(V)8 ANZ: (V)8 system modified to interface with the CelsiusTech 9LV-453 combat system (s) * AN/SPS-49(V)9: (V)5 with medium PRF upgrade (MPU) * AN/SPS-49A(V)1: Developed in the mid-1990s. Added radial speed determination on each target, each scan. Improved clutter rejection

References

External links

Electronics Technician Volume 4-Radar Systems
- via Tpub {{DEFAULTSORT:AN SPS-49 Raytheon Company products Sea radars Military radars of the United States Military electronics of the United States