US Navy charmed by Cobra King
The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen is a 534-feet-long Missile Range Instrumentation Ship operated by the Military Sealift Command to conduct missions sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. (Photo: US Coast Guard)
US Navy demonstrates confidence in Cobra King radar system with new operations and maintenance services contract.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space has been awarded a $340 million firm-fixed-price ID/IQ contract for mobile sensors operations and maintenance services of the Cobra King radar system.
Work is expected to be completed by October 2031 and will be performed at Patrick Space Force base, Florida, and outside continental US locations.
Cobra King, formerly known as Cobra Judy Replacement, replaced the original Cobra Judy system, which has reached the end of its service life.
It is a mobile dual-band range instrumentation radar suite that has been installed on at least two US Navy vessels, the USNS Howard O Lorenzen and the USNS Invincible.
The upper radar is the operating S-band phased-array radar designed by Northrop Grumman and its lower radar is an X-band system by Raytheon, predetermined for more accurate target tracking.
The radar suite will provide the Navy with a long-loiter ballistic missile data collection capability.
In late 2003, Raytheon was contracted by the US Navy to develop the Cobra King mission equipment. The new radar suite offers significantly increased mission capability due to the advanced technology it employs.
More from Naval Warfare
-
![UK Royal Navy dock build question remains open ahead of Programme Euston tender]()
UK Royal Navy dock build question remains open ahead of Programme Euston tender
The UK MoD’s Programme Euston floating dry dock tender has exposed a question about the UK’s naval industrial base: does Britain still have the depth to sustain its own deterrent without foreign intervention.
-
![A closer look at the US Navy’s $268 billion investment in shipbuilding by 2031]()
A closer look at the US Navy’s $268 billion investment in shipbuilding by 2031
The recently released USN 2026 Shipbuilding Plan anticipates the procurement of 185 crewed and uncrewed platforms in the next five years.
-
![Post-Falklands policy still haunts Argentina’s Navy but opportunities remain]()
Post-Falklands policy still haunts Argentina’s Navy but opportunities remain
Post-Falklands political constraints have eroded Argentina’s naval capability, leaving its maritime territory, which is twice the size of its land area, increasingly vulnerable to illegal fishing fleets. As procurement modernisation slowly gains momentum under the Milei government, defence suppliers should take interest.
-
![SAHA 2026: Turkey markets modular undersea systems to European buyers]()
SAHA 2026: Turkey markets modular undersea systems to European buyers
Turkey’s defence industry is pushing a class of platform and building an entire philosophy of cost-imposition around it.
-
![STM’s European wins strengthen Turkey’s naval credibility on the continent]()
STM’s European wins strengthen Turkey’s naval credibility on the continent
Turkish defence and engineering company STM is attempting to challenge Europe’s established naval primes by winning contracts from Portugal to Pakistan – with a business model built on working in any shipyard in the world.
