AN/SPS-49
The AN/SPS-49 is a United States Navy two-dimensional, long range air search radar built by Raytheon that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S. fleet and in Spain, Poland, Taiwan aboard s, Canada on its and New Zealand on its s. It formerly served in a complementary role aboard Aegis cruisers with the AN/SPY-1 but the systems are currently being removed during routine upgrade with no replacement.
In accordance with the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, the "AN/SPS-49" designation represents the 49th design of an Army-Navy electronic device for surface ship search radar system. The JETDS system also now is used to name all Department of Defense electronic systems.
Operation
First tested in 1965 aboard and introduced in 1975, the AN/SPS-49 operates in the 851–942 MHz, or L-, band and has a range of. The orange-peel parabolic shape of the antenna creates a narrow 3.3°-beam to reduce the probability of detection or jamming. It can rotate at 6 rpm in long range mode or 12 rpm in short-range mode. Default is at 12 rpm for the AN/SPS-49A1, to provide more frequent scans against incoming missiles. The SPS-49A1 can detect out to its full range at either 6 or 12 rpm. The antenna is stabilised to compensate for ships pitch and roll, to a maximum of +/-15° for both pitch and roll in 12 rpm mode, and +/-23.5° for both pitch and roll in 6 rpm mode. The output stage of the transmitter in all variants uses a two-cavity klystron amplifier.In 1998, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense reported that SPS-40 and SPS-49 radars in Bahrain were "unusable because the equipment operates on a frequency that interferes with the Bahrain telecommunications services".