The AN/SPS-55 is a solid state surface search and navigation radar. It was developed by Cardion Electronics for the U.S. Navy under a contract awarded in 1971. It was originally developed for a class of ships known as Patrol Frigates, but it was also installed on numerous Cruisers, Destroyers, and Minesweepers. It is an
I band radar and its antenna consists of two waveguide slotted arrays mounted back-to-back. One array provides
linear polarisation and the other provides
circular polarisation
In electrodynamics, circular polarization of an electromagnetic wave is a polarization state in which, at each point, the electromagnetic field of the wave has a constant magnitude and is rotating at a constant rate in a plane perpendicular to ...
. Polarisation is user selectable and the circular polarised array is more effective in reducing returns from precipitation.
Electronics Technician Vol 7 - AN/SPS-55
Features
* Magnetron transmitter
* Low noise RF receiver
* Sensitivity time control
* Fast time constant filtering
* Sector radiate
The effective range of the radar is from 50 feet to beyond 50 miles. It is primarily used to detect other ships, coastlines and navigation hazards.
The "Sensitivity Time Control" automatically adjusts the gain of the RF receiver from low to high based on the time elapsed from the last transmitter pulse. This helps to adjust for the fact that near by targets generate a larger return than distant targets of the same size.
The "Fast Time Constant Filtering" helps to remove targets which have a very large range size, like clouds, while passing targets with a smaller range size, like ships or aircraft.
The "Sector Radiate" allows the operator to turn off the transmitter for any sized pie shaped sector of the antenna's 360 degree rotation. An operator might want to do this to avoid detection by an enemy receiver which lies within a known or suspected location.
The installation of Field Change 13 disabled the antenna's circular polarisation feature. Field Change 13 was necessary to address reliability issues associated with the replacement version of the waveguide switch used for polarisation selection.
Platforms
*Ticonderoga class cruiser
The ''Ticonderoga'' class of guided-missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in the 1978 fiscal year. The class uses passive phased-array radar and was originally planned as a class of de ...
s: AN/SPS-73 has replaced the AN/SPS-55
*Kidd class destroyer
The ''Kidd''-class destroyers were a series of four guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) based on the . In contrast to their predecessor's focus on anti-submarine warfare, the ''Kidd''s were designed as more advanced multipurpose ships with the add ...
s
*Spruance class destroyer
The ''Spruance''-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace the many World War II–built - and s, and was the primary destroyer built for the U.S. Navy during the 1970s and 1980s. It was named in honor of United States Navy A ...
s
*Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate
The ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class is a class of guided-missile frigates named after U.S. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the naval Battle of Lake Erie. Also known as the ''Perry'' or FFG-7 (commonly "fig seven") class, the warships w ...
s
* Avenger class countermeasure ship
See also
*Electronics Technician
Electronics technicians help design, develop, test, manufacture, install, and repair electrical and electronic equipment such as communication equipment, medical monitoring devices, navigational equipment, and computers. They may be employed i ...
References
External links
GlobalSecurity.org - AN/SPS-55
{{DEFAULTSORT:AN SPS-55
Sea radars
Military electronics of the United States