The recent successful test of the Navy’s Cobra Judy Replacement (CJR) program geared toward gathering data about ballistic missile launches worldwide shows the system is in on track and maturing as expected, according to a Raytheon executive overseeing the program.
The Navy and Raytheon [RTN] in March conducted a test of CJR’s massive sensor suite installed aboard the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25) 100 miles off the coast of Florida. The CJR, which consists of powerful X- and S-band radars, succeeded in acquiring and tracking both stages of an Atlas V rock launched from Cape Canaveral.
 Normal false EN-US MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Cobra Judy Replacement’s massive arrays aboard the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen. Photo: Raytheon.
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The Cobra Judy Replacement is not part of a missile defense system, but rather is designed to monitor the ballistic missile activities of other nations and help in identifying countries that could be in violation of treaties or other international agreements.
“The test validates the rapid maturity of the system,” Denis Donohue, Raytheon’s director of above water sensors, said ahead of the Navy League’s Sea Air Space exposition outside Washington this week.
Donohue said the system will undergo additional live and simulated testing as part of the evaluation of the program this year, but the first test shows CJR is on track for initial operational capability in January 2014.
CJR consists of X- and S-band phased array sensors, a common radar suite controller and other related mission equipment.
“CJR continues to excel at each stage of development and testing–no small feat for a new program with its level of scale and complexity,” Capt. Rod Wester, the CJR program manager at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), said in April while announcing the successful test.
“The performance of the radars–and the platform as a whole–has been outstanding and it is a testament to the skill, experience and dedication of the government-industry team of experts, working together to bring this critical capability closer to deployment,” Wester said.
The CJR’s X- and S-band active phased-array antennas of CJR are about four stories tall and weigh more than 500,000 pounds.
The first sea-based testing of CJR began in July to fine tune both band radars to address emerging and more complex threats.
CJR is to replace the original Cobra Judy, which has operated aboard the USNS Observation Island (T-AGM-23) since 1981 and was also developed by Raytheon.
Operational control of CJR will eventually be transferred to the Air Force.