Raytheon secures US Navy sonar contract

Maritime May 24, 2017

Raytheon has been selected by the US Navy to provide new Variable Depth Sonar for the Littoral Combat Ship class.

This innovative anti-submarine technology has been designed specifically for the Littoral Combat Ships following a study and product assessment which ensured that Ratheon’s solution met the Navy’s design and performance requirements.

The $27.9M contract provides a mission-critical anti-submarine warfare asset, with the VDS able to deploy from LCS to locate and track enemy submarines.

Paul Ferraro, Raytheon’s vice president of Integrated Defense Systems’ Seapower Capability Systems said: “We leveraged decades of sonar systems expertise and our proven ability to innovate to create this groundbreaking technology.

“Raytheon’s reliable, cost-effective variable depth sonar will allow the Navy to rapidly introduce this new anti-submarine capability to meet the LCS mission.”

Raytheon’s solution features reduced weight to minimise ship impact and increased maneuverability, as well as the opportunity for increased warfighting payloads. Further to this, the VDS is easy for crews to use, thus improving efficiency and operational effectiveness.

Fleet sailors at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute undertook a full-scale demonstration of the system last August, where features were tested and validated.

Raytheon’s VDS benefits from the agility and expertise of a dedicated team, including Curtiss Wright-Indal, Adaptive Methods, Inc., Purvis Systems and Harbor Branch.

Raytheon will now advance its design to a full Pre-Production Test Article, following the contract signing. The contract includes options for production which, if exercised, brings total contract value to more than $300 million.

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