Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Cobra King Radar Installed on USNS Howard O. Lorenzen in Air Force's Navy

USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25

 The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of Howard O. Lorenzen on 10 January 2012.[9] Final contract trials were completed on 5 December 2013, with transfer to the Air Force expected to occur in 2014.[10] On 31 March 2014, the Cobra Judy Replacement program reached initial operational capability (IOC). According to the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), the U.S. Air Force also assumed operational and sustain-ment responsibilities for the ship.[11]

Yes, the Air Force has a Navy - Nextgov.com
 Air Force's new maritime radar becomes operational > U.S. Air Force > Article Display

The radar and ship are the sea component of DoD's Cobra program that monitors missile and space launches. Other Cobra platforms include the Cobra Ball (airborne tracker) Cobra Dane (stationary array), Cobra Shoe (overseas antenna site) and AFTAC's recently decommissioned maritime vessel, Cobra Judy (USNS Observation Island).

These Are The Wild Radar Ships That Make Missile Defense Possible 
The newest and most powerful missile tracking ship is the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen. This 534-foot long bright white beast packs a pair of state-of-the-art "Cobra King" active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars that are each the size of a three story building and weigh half a million pounds each.
The Howard O. Lorenzen and her Cobra King radars were developed to replace their extremely successful but dated forerunner duo, the USNS Observation Island and her Cobra Judy phased array radar system. The Cobra King represents a vast improvement in resolution, agility and power handling, and it is said to be more easily upgradable over time, which will hopefully give the Howard O. Lorenzen a long service life like the Observation Island had.

Cobra King Radar Installed on USNS Howard O. Lorenzen; Naval Today
Cobra King is a new, state-of-the-art mobile radar system consisting of S- and X-band phased radars that AFTAC employs to provide worldwide, high quality, high resolution, multi-wavelength radar data to the Department of Defense’s strategic community, the Missile Defense Agency and other government agencies.
The US Navy -- Fact File: CJR - Cobra Judy Replacement
 Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR)


Cobra Judy on Observation Island

The original Cobra Judy system has been deployed since 1981 and has reached the end of its service life. The CJR radar suite consists of steerable, instrument-quality S- and X-band phased arrays, greatly expanding the data collection capability over the original system. The S-band radar primarily conducts large volume searches and is capable of performing radar tracks and collections on a large number of radar targets. The X-band radar provides high-resolution data on specific radar objects of interest and also has a search capability.

The X band AESA array is especially important as it can help differentiate warheads from decoys, and this data can be used to build software for less capable systems to do the same. In many ways, Cobra King works in a similar fashion to the Navy's soon to be deployed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), which also has two separate radar arrays, one for X band and one for S band, for volume search and precise tracking. The AMDR will first be deployed on Nuclear Carrier the USS Ford. 

Major Contractors
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems – Sudbury, Massachusetts -
Cobra Judy Replacement radars perform exceptionally during first live-launch test - Apr 2, 2013

Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems – Baltimore, Maryland
Northrop Grumman Successfully Demonstrates S-Band AESA Radar Capability for Cobra Judy (NYSE:NOC)
VT Halter Marine – Pascagoula, Mississippi -
 

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