Saab AN/SPN-50(V)1

History

The Saab AN/SPN-50(V)1 is a shipboard air traffic control and surveillance radar produced for the U.S. Navy. It is a U.S. Navy version of Saab's Sea Giraffe Agile Multi Beam radar and is intended to support aviation operations from nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and large-deck amphibious ships.

The radar is intended to serve as the primary air traffic control and surveillance sensor for both manned and unmanned aviation aboard these ships. Acquisition, deployment, and sustainment of the system are overseen by the Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office, PMA-213, in cooperation with Saab.

The AN/SPN-50(V)1 entered Low Rate Initial Production as the Navy progressively ordered additional systems. Saab manufactures, delivers, tests, and integrates the radars at its facilities in Syracuse, New York.

Low Rate Initial Production

During the second Low Rate Initial Production phase, Saab received an order for three AN/SPN-50(V)1 systems valued at USD 37.1 million. The first delivery under that order was scheduled for 2022. The contract and the planned shipboard role were reported by Seapower Magazine.

On November 8, 2022, Saab announced that the U.S. Navy had advanced the program to a third Low Rate Initial Production phase. The approximately USD 30 million modification covered two additional radar systems, installation support, and spare parts. Saab identified them as the sixth and seventh systems on the production contract, with delivery of the first radar from this lot scheduled for 2024. Manufacturing, delivery, testing, and integration were assigned to Saab's Syracuse facilities. The details were published in Saab's program announcement.

In August 2026, Saab Inc. received a USD 74,636,753 modification to the existing firm-fixed-price contract for five additional AN/SPN-50(V)1 radars. The contract is managed by Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Maryland.

Design

The AN/SPN-50(V)1 is derived from Saab's Sea Giraffe Agile Multi Beam radar technology for U.S. Navy shipboard use. Its designated function is air traffic control and surveillance rather than a general description of all shipboard radar tasks.

The system is intended to provide the primary radar capability supporting air traffic control for manned and unmanned aircraft operating from U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and large-deck amphibious ships. The supplied sources do not provide antenna dimensions, operating frequency, detection range, power output, or other numerical radar performance data.

Saab carries out radar manufacturing, delivery, testing, and integration in Syracuse, New York. PMA-213 is responsible, in cooperation with Saab, for acquisition, deployment, and through-life sustainment of the radar within the Navy fleet.

Program status

The AN/SPN-50(V)1 has been procured through successive Low Rate Initial Production phases. The 2022 phase-three modification brought the production-contract sequence to the sixth and seventh systems, while the August 2026 modification ordered five more radars under the existing contract.

The program supports the Navy's shipboard air traffic control and landing capability. The available sources describe continued production and acquisition but do not provide enough information to identify every ship installation or to state a complete fleet-wide deployment schedule.

Specifications (AN/SPN-50(V)1)

General characteristics

• Type: Shipboard air traffic control and surveillance radar.
• Radar family: U.S. Navy version of Saab's Sea Giraffe Agile Multi Beam radar.
• Primary role: Air traffic control and surveillance for manned and unmanned aviation.
• Intended ship types: U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and large-deck amphibious ships.
• Manufacturer and integration site: Saab facilities in Syracuse, New York, United States.
• Program office: Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office, PMA-213.