Thales has signed a contract with the French defence procurement agency (DGA) to supply the French Navy with several hundred sonar buoys for anti-submarine warfare.
Deployed from a maritime patrol aircraft (such as the ATL2) or a helicopter (for example an NH90), the buoys enable the detection of submarines and are interoperable with the Flash dipping sonar and the CAPTAS family of towed array sonars.
These expendable sonar buoy offer both active and passive modes, and are equipped with a powerful low-frequency emitter and a receiver with high directivity.
Combined with the Flash dipping sonar, the buoys will enable an airborne platform to search for the presence of submarines over a greater range and offer greater responsiveness to the evasive manoeuvres of these platforms.
The dipping sonar's communication systems enable surface ships and aircraft, as well as acoustic support centres equipped with a sonar buoy processing system, to receive the data collected by the buoys.