The Critical Design Review (CDR) stage for AN/SPY-1 radar Solid-State Switch Assembly (SSSA)'s high voltage modulator completed Aug. 26, confirming that the design is expected to meet performance requirements.
A CDR confirms the system is on track to achieve affordability and cost goals, and establishes the system's initial product baseline. The successful close-out of the CDR milestone means that the SSSA has achieved a high level of maturity, and is ready to start complete hardware design and system testing.
SSSA is intended to replace the current vacuum tube modulator switches in the AN/SPY-1 radar transmitter with functionally similar, highly reliable solid-state switches. The AN/SPY-1 radar constitutes the primary air and surface search radar for the AEGIS Weapons System.
The SSSA effort is a partnership among the U.S. Navy's Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, and the American Competitiveness Institute.
"This project directly supports the fleet's need for a more reliable radar by transitioning solid state technologies from ONR directly into our sailors hands, replacing critical components that were designed to fail often with an assembly they may never have to work on," said Capt. Doug Small, PEO IWS's Above Water Sensors Major Program Manager and chair of the SSSA design review.
PEO IWS is affiliated with the Naval Sea Systems Command. The organization is focused on developing, delivering and sustaining operationally dominant combat systems for sailors and Marines.
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