Hobart-class "Air Warfare Destroyer" to be fielded with obsolete radar guidance technology

As a friend informed me:

"Why were LM pushing so hard to get the AUS DoD to commit to the SPY-1D early? This is the answer."

Something to think about. This is a good read.

“AMDR will see and differentiate between objects half the size and twice the distance of a SPY-1(D) radar,” Larson said

No free lunch?

The AMDR radar is performing very well in its current technology development phase, however the Navy is currently immersed in a series of technological adjustments or engineering change proposals needed so that that DDG 51’s can accommodate the new radar, Navy officials said

In particular, the DDG 51s will need more on-board power and more cooling capability integrated into the ship platform, Navy officials said. As a result, Navy officials are working on installing larger megawatt generators and cooling plants than are currently on the ship in order to accommodate the AMDR system.

Among other things, this involves changing the existing DDG 51’s 200-ton Air Conditioning plant to a 300-ton plant, Navy officials said.

And now cartoon time. Can't sell without cartoons.

Raytheon:





Lockheed Martin:





And where does this leave the much loved and new Australian Hobart "Air Warfare Destroyer"?

With yesterday's technology.

Fortunately for Lockheed Martin, they got that SPY-1 sale  to a customer in possession of weak military requirement, weak military systems analysis and weak military procurement skills.


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