A SPY-6 radar array being manufactured.Raytheon Missiles & Defense

It seems the U.S. Navy is increasing its already formidable capabilities.

On Thursday, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, was awarded a $3.2 billion contract spread over five years of radar production to equip up to 31 U.S. Navy ships with SPY-6 radars, according to a press release by the firm.

The move will deliver unprecedented integrated air and missile defense capabilities for seven types of U.S. Navy ships over the next 40 years.

No other radar like the SPY-6

"There is no other radar with the surface maritime capabilities of SPY-6," said in the statement Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense. "SPY-6 is the most advanced naval radar in existence, and it will provide our military a giant leap forward in capability for decades to come."

It is estimated that since its inception, more than $600 million has been invested in the development and manufacturing of the SPY-6 family of radars in order to allow them to bring new capabilities to the surface fleet, such as advanced electronic warfare protection and enhanced detection abilities.

In a meeting with reporters on Friday, Scott Spence, an executive director for naval radars at Raytheon Missiles & Defense, said that the new radars would be a significant improvement over the legacy SPY-1 radars that have been in use thus far.

Greater detection ranges

This is because Navy operators “need the greater detection ranges and increased sensitivity, specifically in contested environments. You get a highly contested environment, you need a radar that can see through all that clutter and be able to detect those targets at great distances and give the warfighter more time to react, and determine exactly what they’re looking at and then how to defeat those particular threats,” he added.

He also stated that the new contract may see up to 46 radars provided to Navy ships by his firm, 15 more than initially presumed. The SPY-6 radar installation has already been completed on the Navy's first Flight III destroyer, the USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125).

traffic jams in the city.Kichigin/iStock

It seems U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is much more concerned with the environment. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released new federal rules on Friday that would force new vehicles sold in the U.S. to have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, according to a report by TechXplore. This number is up from the 28 miles per gallon mark that were enacted under previous President Donald Trump and follow global moves to reduce car pollution like Canada's decision to ban new combustion engine cars by 2035.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) further said that it estimates that the new measures will reduce gasoline consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the life of vehicles, in comparison with the previous Trump standards. The new rules will witness an increase in gas mileage by 8 percent per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10 percent in the 2026 model year.

Making the country less dependent on foreign sources

"Transportation is the second-largest cost for American families, only behind housing," transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who also oversees the NHTSA, said. The new standards will make the country less dependent on foreign oil and gas helping to preserve "the freedom of our country to chart its future without being subject to other countries and to the decisions that are being made in the boardrooms of energy companies."

The war in Ukraine has seen gasoline prices spike nationwide to an average of more than $4.22 per gallon, an increase from the average of $2.88 per gallon that was in effect just a year ago. The new regulation, however, is not without its drawbacks.

It is expected that the price of a new vehicle in the 2029 model year will rise by $1,087 in what is already an expensive market. Meanwhile, several environmental groups still feel the measures are not enough.

Not enough?

"Climate change has gotten much worse, but these rules only require automakers to reduce gas-guzzling slightly more than they agreed to cut nine years ago," told TechXplore Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Center at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The NHTSA however speculates that the new measures could lead to carbon dioxide emissions decreasing by 2.5 billion metric tons by 2050. That is a positive outcome that simply cannot be denied and one that is bound to improve the health of all Americans by reducing their exposure to car-related pollution.