AN/SPS-48E

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AN/SPS 48e on-board the USS Nimitz.
AN/SPS 48e on-board the USS Nimitz.

The AN/SPS-48E Air Search Radar system is a phased array Radar system developed by ITT Gilfillan. It is a 3D Air search radar system used by the US Navy on several classes of ships, especially air craft carriers and attack carriers. It is the predecessor of the AEGIS system currently in use on Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

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[edit] How it is 3D

The radar is mounted on a base that allows for 360 degrees of rotation. The target can be located at a given azimuth. The range of the target is also identified due to the time it takes the beam to go out and back to the receiver. What makes this radar system different is its ability to detect the height of the target above the surface of the water. Exact details are classified, however this ability is known. With these three pieces of data the radar's central processor has the ability to place the target in an X,Y,Z, 3 dimensional space.

[edit] Uses

With the air targets exact 3D location it is available for interception/removal via either the ship's weapon system or through linked weapons platforms located elsewhere.

[edit] Difference from AEGIS

The AEGIS SPY-1B/D radar are electronically scanned, while the SPS-48E is frequency scanned in elevation, and mounted on a rotating joint that spins the radar in azimuth.

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