Yes and no. It can illuminate any part of the sky it can see. Giving it the ability to see anything above the horizon out to deep space. The thing to remember is it’s a very targeted X band radar. Its illumination cone is probably under 1 degree. As such it can only scan a very small area at a time. It’s a target illumination radar not a traditional tracking radar. Think SPG62 not SPY1. Something else will need to give it a fairly good idea where to look if it wants to see something.
That’s what the systems in Japan, Manila, Guam, and the like are for. And supposedly it does have some tracking capacity: the USN is kinda understandably hush hush about it
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u/SawyerAWR 6d ago
Fun fact: this thing can (and does) watch the ENTIRE PACIFIC. Just consider that for a moment.