The U.S. Navy will put out in the next few months a request for proposals for a multiplatform EASR that it plans to install on its aircraft carriers and large amphibious vessels, DoD Buzz reported Tuesday.
Kris Osborn writes the service decided to employ a flexible platform for the new radar amidst efforts to lower the cost of the planned USS Kennedy (CVN 79), the Navy’s second Ford-class carrier.
EASR, or enterprise air surveillance radar, will replace the dual band radar originally slated to be outfitted into DDG 1000 destroyers and currently configured on the USS Ford (CVN 78).
Rear Adm. Thomas Moore, Navy program executive officer for aircraft carriers, estimates that EASR development for the warship could translate to $180 million in savings for the military branch, according to the report.
“The radar that we choose is going to be an off-the-shelf radar that we tailor to the ship. There are a number of radars out there that appear to meet the specs,†Moore was quoted to have said.
The Navy targets LHA 8 to be the first among its amphib assault ships to get EASR, and plans are already in place to roll out the same technology on the next-generation LXR, Osborn writes.
