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NAS PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland – US Navy Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) experts replenish their stocks of advanced multistatic underwater hunting sonobuoys that work with other sonobuoys to detect, locate and track enemy submarines .
Officials from Naval Air Systems Command at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Last week announced a $ 222.3 million contract with ERAPSCO in Columbia City, Indiana, and with the rotary systems segment and Lockheed Martin Corp. mission in Manassas, Virginia. , to build up to 18,000 AN / SSQ-125 multistatic sonobuoys for airborne ASM operations.
Sonobuoys are disposable, disposable electromechanical ASW acoustic sensors designed to relay underwater sounds from ships and submarines. Soundbuoys allow Navy ASW forces to track potentially hostile submarines operating on the high seas and in coastal areas that could pose a threat to Navy carrier groups or other forces. Information from these systems can help enable precision attacks with air-launched torpedoes.
ERAPSCO and Lockheed Martin will compete for orders for AN / SSQ-125 sonobuoys under this contract. Fixed-wing aircraft and Navy helicopters can drop a set of sonobuoys, which relay information to the aircraft over the air, to determine the exact location of enemy submarines.
Related: Navy Makes Big Purchase of Multistatic Sonobuoys for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Against Advanced Threats
AN / SSQ-125 sonobuoys work with the Navy’s AN / SSQ series of sonic buoys, which includes the SSQ-36 bathythermograph (BT); SSQ-53 Low Frequency Directional Passive Analysis and Recording (DIFAR); SSQ-62 Directionally Controlled Active Sound Buoy System (DICASS); Active Receiver Deployed in Air (ADAR) SSQ-101; SSQ-110 multistatic non-coherent source; and SSQ-125 multistatic coherent source.
The AN / SSQ-125 soundbuoy is a source in a multistatic field and can generate a variety of waveforms. It is designed to work with AN / SSQ-53F, AN / SSQ-77C and AN / SSQ-101 (ADAR) sonobuoys.
A multistatic sonar system contains several spatially diverse monostatic or bistatic sonar components with a shared coverage area, and allows Navy ASW operators to use sensor fusion to combine the power of separate sonobuoys.
The AN / SSQ-125’s RF channel can be programmed to any of the standard soundbuoy operating channels. At any time after deployment, the AN / SSQ-125 may be instructed to change its operating parameters or depth (deeper only), ping, or scuttle.
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The AN / SSQ-125 soundbuoy is a source in a multistatic field and can generate a variety of waveforms. It is designed to work with AN / SSQ-53F, AN / SSQ-77C and AN / SSQ-101 (ADAR) sonobuoys.
The AN / SSQ-125’s RF channel can be programmed to any of the standard soundbuoy operating channels. At any time after deployment, the AN / SSQ-125 may be instructed to change its operating parameters or depth (deeper only), ping, or scuttle.
The AN / SSQ-36B provides vertical ocean layer temperature profiles for ASW and research, and widely used in ASW operations to assess the local effects of seawater temperature on the propagation of sonar and acoustic range prediction.
The AN / SSQ-53F uses four hydrophones – each a multi-channel directional piezoelectric ceramic transducer – which operate at depths of 90, 200, 400 and 1000 feet to listen to potentially hostile submerged enemy submarines. Planes can drop a set of sonobuoys, which relay information back to the plane over the air, to determine the exact locations of enemy submarines.
Related: Navy Boosts C4ISR, P-8A Poseidon ASW Aircraft Multi-Sensor Intelligence Capabilities
The SSQ-53F has three sensors: a shallow constant omni (CSO), an advanced DIFAR sensor, and a calibrated wideband omni. The buoy digitally conditions and amplifies acoustics and provides directional data that helps establish azimuthal bearing for tracked submarines.
The DICASS AN / SSQ-62E acoustic buoy can detect and locate submarines in preparation for an attack. I can provide range and bearing to the target to fix position and support any of four acoustic frequencies selected via electronic function selection.
The AN / SSQ-101 ADAR sonobuoy provides controllable passive search capability and functions as a receiver in a multistatic active receiver system. The device uses a horizontally oriented pentagon-shaped hydrophone pattern to detect and form underwater sound waves.
Related: Lockheed Martin To Provide Navy With Advanced Towed Sonar For Surface Warships
ERAPSCO operates as a joint venture between the Defense and Security segment of Sparton Corp. in Le Leon Springs, Fla., and Ultra Electronics USSI in Columbia City, Indiana.
Under this contract, ERAPSCO and Lockheed Martin will perform the work at De Leon Springs and Clearwater, Florida; Columbia City, Indiana; and Manassas, Va., and is expected to be completed by March 2024.
For more information, contact ERAPSCO online at http://erapsco.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
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