 AN/SPS-39 aboard aUSSAtlanta | |
| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Hughes Aircraft Company |
| Introduced | 1960 |
| No. built | 89 |
| Type | 3D |
| Frequency | S Band |
| PRF | 1850 Hz |
| Beamwidth | 1.1° × 2.25° |
| Pulsewidth | 4 µs |
| Range | 296 km (160 nmi) |
| Azimuth | Unlimited |
| Power | 1 MW |
AN/SPS-39 is athree-dimensional radar was manufactured byHughes Aircraft Company. It was used by theUS Navy as aparabolic-cylinder reflector antenna afterWorld War II, and was equipped aboard naval ships during theCold War. It was mass-produced based on AN/SPS-26, and was also the first 3D radar deployed by the US Navy in the fleet. It later evolved into an improvedAN/SPS-52.
In accordance with theJoint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), the "AN/SPS-39" designation represents the 39th design of an Army-Navyelectronic device forsurface ship search radar system. The JETDS system also now is used to name allDepartment of Defense electronic systems.
Immediately after World War II, the development of a radar with a new principle called 3D radar began. First, the multi-beam typeAN/SPS-2 was developed, but the mechanism was too complicated, so it was only prototyped. Later, as an epoch-making electronic scanning method, Mr. Yarou of Hughes developed a method called frequency scanning (FRESCAN). This changed the phase of the radio wave by changing thefrequency of the emittedradio wave, and directed the radio wave beam.[1]
In response to this, the AN/SPS-26 was prototyped as anexperimental aircraft radar that adopted the FRESCAN method for vertical scanning and the mechanical method by turning the antenna for horizontal scanning. The land test was started in 1953, and the offshore test was started in August 1957 inNorfolk. And as a practical machine with improved reliability, this machine was handed over to the Navy in January 1960.
As the antenna, a vertically long cylindrical parabolic antenna similar to AN/SPS-26 is used. However, while AN/SPS-26 was electronically stabilized, AN/SPS-39 introduced a mechanical stabilization mechanism that was diverted from the elevation radar. Later, MTI technology was also adopted.Mean time between failures (MTBF) was only 14.2 hours during testing from 1960 to 1962, but with later improvements, Series III was 43.2 hours on Sampson-equipped aircraft, andUSS Galveston. It was supposed to be 67.4 hours on the onboard aircraft.[2]
The AN/SPS-42, which later introduced an interface with theNaval Tactical Data System (NTDS), and the further improved AN/SPS-52 were developed. The AN/SPS-39 Series III, which was deployed in 1963, uses a planar array antenna of the same type as the AN/SPS-52, which makes it visually indistinguishable from the AN/SPS-52.
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