US Navy's Freedom Variant LCS To Be Equipped With Airbus' TRS-4D AESA Radars

Airbus defense and space has signed a contract with its electronics and border security affiliate to deliver TRS-4D Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radars to US Navy’s Freedom Variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program.

Airbus will provide TRS-4D radars through Freedom-class prime contractor Lockheed Martin, Airbus announced Wednesday.

A factory acceptance test was recently completed for the radar planned to go aboard LCS 21. This follows the already planned installations of TRS-4D aboard LCS 17 and LCS 19.

The TRS-4D radar for LCS is a rotating version of the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) fixed panel TRS-4D radar currently going aboard the German F-125 class frigates. It combines mechanical and electronic azimuth scanning to achieve fast generation of target tracks.

The radar's AESA technology delivers increased sensitivity to detect smaller targets with greater accuracy, as well as faster track generation to give LCS more time to react to advanced threats and support enhanced weapons systems.

Airbus has delivered three TRS-4D radars and eight AN/SPS-75 radars for the LCS program.

This software-defined radar is programmable, enabling the customer to define changes to radar characteristics to match future threats that evolve over the life of the ship. The ability to customize the characteristics of the TRS-4D helps enable LCS to evolve through its service life and adapt to evolving required operational capabilities and projected operational environments in an affordable manner.

Employing AESA technology, the TRS-4D is three-dimensional, multi-mode naval radar for surveillance, target acquisition, self-defense, gunfire support, and aircraft control. It automatically detects and tracks all types of air and sea targets, alleviating crew workload requirements.