A staple feature on Nimitz class supercarriers and America's "Gator Navy" of amphibious assault ships may begin to disappear in the not so distant future and in its place will be a very different looking system. The AN/SPS-48 three-dimensional air-search radar has been fielded across the Navy for over five decades. Today, a modernized version—the AN/SPS-48G—of the big, square, billboard-like, spinning array can still be found on Nimitz class carriers, San Antonio class landing platform docks, and Wasp and America class amphibious assault ships. But that is slated to slowly change as Raytheon's new SPY-6V2 radar hits the fleet.

SPY-6V2 is a very close relative of the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) system, also known as SPY-6V1, being fielded aboard the new Arleigh Burke class Flight III destroyers . AMDR is made up of 37 individual Radar Modular Assemblies (RMAs) that are basically two foot by two foot active electronically scanned array radar 'blocks' that can be easily swapped in and out as needed. This modularity means that the system can also be scaled up or down for different applications with relative ease.

Case in point is an outgrowth of this system known as the Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) that is being developed for the third Ford Class supercarrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-80). You can read about why the Navy sought a new radar for the Ford class after just two ships had been procured here and here.

Each EASR array is made up of nine RMAs. The radar is capable of providing a number of capabilities all at once, including anti-air and anti-surface warfare, air traffic control, and even possibly some electronic warfare capabilities for defensive purposes. The fact that the system is modular means that it will be more easily maintained and thus more reliable than its predecessors. So, it will actually save money over time. In fact, supposedly the EASR is so capable that it can also replace the two dimensional, long-range, L-band AN/SPS-49 radar on Navy flattops that receive EASR. And all this is in addition to offering a big leap in capabilities that AESAtechnology provides.