Breaking Defense:

In the coming weeks, the Navy is slated to unveil a new plan for what ships plans to put to sea in the coming decades, and how it wants those hulls configured. One of the “must haves” in the emerging era of small drones, ballistic missiles, stealthy aircraft and unmanned ships is the ability to see further, and react faster, as countries from China to Iran to North Korea throw a dizzying array of advanced weapons into the mix.

In November, the Navy laid down the keel for its first Flight III destroyer that will be one of the ships at the forefront of this modernization plan. The USS Jack H. Lucas will take to sea armed with new weapons, advanced sensors and a more powerful AN/SPY-6 radar system that can see three times further than previous radars.

The Raytheon-made system is capable of tracking incoming missiles, small drones and ships at distances, and at a volume, that existing radars can’t, the Navy and company representatives say.

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