Raytheon advances software-defined radar

Raytheon has received an Office of Naval Research contract to develop advanced radar software for next-generation naval radars, extending the U.S. Navy’s move towards software-defined sensing and more flexible use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The work will allow individual radar building blocks to operate independently, enabling a single radar to support multiple missions at the same time. By treating those building blocks as software-defined apertures, the radar can adapt more quickly to operational demands and share crowded frequency bands more effectively with commercial networks such as 5G.

Although the contract is focused on software, the production consequences reach deep into naval electronics manufacturing. Radar capability is no longer defined only by antennas, transmitters, receivers, and power equipment. Modern naval sensors increasingly depend on processors, firmware, software baselines, secure update mechanisms, thermal management, calibration, digital engineering, and test environments capable of validating performance across many operating modes.

Shipboard systems add further constraints. A naval radar must operate within strict limits around space, weight, power, cooling, electromagnetic interference, cybersecurity, and lifecycle support. It also has to survive harsh maritime conditions, integrate with combat systems, support classified operations, and remain upgradeable across decades. Software-defined apertures promise greater flexibility, while raising the bar on configuration control and assurance.

The ONR work points to a future in which radar capability can evolve faster through software rather than waiting for major hardware replacement cycles. Navies facing low-observable aircraft, drones, anti-ship missiles, electronic attack, and dense civilian spectrum environments need sensors that can adapt more quickly than traditional platform upgrade schedules allow. More efficient use of shipboard hardware also allows different radar functions to be handled through software-controlled aperture behaviour.

That flexibility has to be made reliable in production. Each software-defined building block still depends on repeatable hardware quality, stable timing, precise calibration, secure code, validated interfaces, and rigorous test procedures. A radar able to perform multiple missions simultaneously is only useful if its behaviour remains predictable under operational stress.

The direction of travel is visible across the sensor industrial base. Collins’ expansion of Florida radar production highlighted the demand for RF components, digital receivers, transmitters, processors, power supplies, cooling systems, calibration equipment, and skilled technicians. Raytheon’s ONR work pushes the same trend further into the software layer, where upgradeability becomes a core part of radar value.

Naval combat systems are moving in the same direction. Lockheed Martin’s work on AI-enabled Aegis adaptation shows how radar processing, missile integration, decision support, and modular software architecture are beginning to evolve together. Next-generation radar software will have to operate inside that wider combat-system environment rather than as a standalone sensor upgrade.

Spectrum pressure adds another industrial driver. Military radars, communications systems, commercial 5G networks, satellite links, electronic warfare, and civilian systems are all competing for bandwidth. Software-defined apertures offer a way to manage emissions more intelligently, reduce interference, and adapt to operational restrictions without degrading mission effectiveness.

For manufacturers, value is shifting towards software teams, digital test benches, model-based development, cyber-secure update pipelines, and high-assurance verification. Traditional radar suppliers still need manufacturing depth, but competitive advantage increasingly lies in how quickly systems can absorb new modes, waveforms, processing techniques, and threat data without destabilising the platform.

The supply chain follows that shift. Semiconductor availability, high-performance computing modules, RF components, rugged storage, secure development environments, and skilled software engineers are all part of the naval radar industrial base. The factory floor and the software lab are now tightly linked.

For the U.S. Navy, Raytheon’s work supports a radar architecture better suited to multi-mission ships operating in crowded electromagnetic environments. For industry, it reinforces a wider change in naval sensor production: the next generation of radar will be built as upgradeable digital infrastructure, not static hardware bolted to a mast.