DoD Resurrects Sea-Based X-Band Radar For Ballistic Missile Defense
By Jof Enriquez,
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The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is reviving the long-stalled deployment of its Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) component for the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), awarding a $57,675,835 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Gryphon Technologies.
Unveiled by MDA more than a decade ago, the SBX radar was envisioned to support both operations and testing of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, which is specifically designed to defend the U.S. homeland against a long-range ballistic missile attack.
It was officially dedicated in 2005 ahead of sea trials, but full deployment was halted in 2012. With its revival, Gryphon Technologies is tasked to provide "for communication operations and support for the SBX Strategic Mission" with an initial $4 million in fiscal year 2017 allocated for research, development, test, and evaluation purposes. The total $57,675,835 contract is slated to end on June 14, 2024.
"We are honored to be selected to continue to provide Mission Integration Test and Operational Support for SBX to the Missile Defense Agency Sensors Directorate," said P.J. Braden, founder of Gryphon Technologies. "Gryphon's team of professionals is committed to the mission and supporting MDA in keeping our country safe."
SBX consists of a highly advanced X-band radar system operating between 8.0 to 12.0 GHz frequency range within the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is mounted on a sea-going, semi-submersible, twin-hulled oil production platform measuring 240 feet wide and 390 feet long, and topped with a dome housing the X-band radar unit.
According to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the X-band radar – an electro-mechanically-steered phased array radar which consists of thousands of antennae driven by transmit/receive modules – can “see” an object the size of a baseball at a distance of 2,500 nautical miles, reports Defense Systems.
SBX tracks and relays data to elements of the Ground Missile Defense (GMD) Fire Control branch of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) to facilitate the interception of hostile long-range ballistic missiles by ground and/or sea-based interceptors.
According to ReportLinker, various governments are investing heavily in state-of-the-art X-band radar systems to bolster their defense capabilities amid increasing geopolitical tensions. This has led to a rapid growth in the X-band radar market, which is projected to be worth $5.61 billion by 2021.