The Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) that is planned for operational service in Alaska in 2020 is part of the United States's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...

system. The main contractor is

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, under a US$784 million contract from the Missile Defense Agency in October 2015.Alaska's Long Range Discrimination Radar on Track for 2020
Jen Judson, DefenseNews.com, 16 August 2016 LRDR is a

gallium Gallium is a chemical element with the symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Discovered by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran in 1875, Gallium is in group 13 of the periodic table and is similar to the other metals of the group (aluminiu ...

nitride ( GaN)-based, solid-state

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

(AESA) early-warning radar that allows for continuous coverage, even when it is undergoing maintenance. The radar consists of individual solid state radar blocks that can be combined to scale up the size of the radar. The multi-purpose GaN device used on the prototype version of the LRDR is from the Japanese electronics company

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

, according to Lockheed Martin. Construction in Alaska for the LRDR was scheduled to begin in 2019, tentatively at Clear Space Force Station in central Alaska. In late February 2021, the Missile Defense Agency said that the radar installation was underway, with Initial Operational Capability to be achieved in 2021.MDA says Alaska-based missile defense radar will be operational in 2021
Jen Judson, DefenseNews, 2021-03-03

AN/SPY-7(V)1

The AN/SPY-7(V)1 is the official designation of an LRDR-derivative used with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. On 30 July 2018, the Japanese government approved a plan to purchase two pairs of AN/SPY-7(V)1 for the

Aegis Ashore The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediate-r ...

facility and will be installed in Yamaguchi Prefecture and

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

. The first operation is expected to start from 2025, by Japan Ground Self Defense Force. Missile Defense Agency has also decided to use AN/SPY-7(V)1 for the

to be installed in Hawaii. Derivatives of the AN/SPY-7(V)1 will be used on the Canadian Surface Combatant and the Spanish F-110 frigate. In September 2020, AN/SPY-7(V)1 was chosen by Canada as the primary radar for its future Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) along with CMS-330 Combat Management System with Aegis Combat System. Lockheed Martin promoted this version of radar as the AN/SPY-1 refurbishment program to the US Navy to extend the lifespan of the Ticonderoga-class cruiser and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to beyond the 2040s.Lockheed Martin Advocates Accelerating Aegis, SPY-1 Upgrades
USNI.org January 10, 2017 In December 2021, the AN/SPY-6 AESA radar from Raytheon was selected to retrofit Flight IIA ''Arleigh Burke'' destroyers; the same radar is used on Flight III ships.Justin Kat
Raytheon to start backfitting destroyers with SPY-6 radar
Breaking Defense (11 Jan 2022)

References

External links

{{United States Missile Defense Radar Early warning systems Radar networks United States Space Surveillance Network Missile defense Equipment of the United States Space Force