The French Navy has selected the SonoFlash new-generation sonobuoy from Thales. Unveiled at the Euronaval show in October 2018, SonoFlash will enable France to reach its strategic capability goal for acoustic sensors, Thales announced with a press release.
The threat posed by submarines is evolving rapidly. Three decades ago, only the superpowers had a true undersea warfare capability, but numerous countries now deploy modern submarine fleets. At the same time, forces increasingly operate in littoral waters, which are much more complex for sonar systems, rather than in the relative certainty of open-ocean environments.
Responding to this evolving threat environment, Thales developed the SonoFlash buoy, a new-generation sonobuoy with an unequaled performance-to-mass ratio that builds on decades of expertise in sonars and acoustic sensors to offer an ambitious new solution.
Its innovative design and advanced technology include several key features to deliver unrivaled performance. Today’s sonobuoys are either passive or active. By contrast, the SonoFlash buoy offers the best of both modes, combining a robust, optimized low-frequency transmitter with a high-directivity passive receiver. With the combination of these two capabilities and the added advantage of long endurance, the SonoFlash buoy is suitable for a wide array of deployment scenarios.
Sonoflash:
Fully compatible with the other families of Thales sonars, the SonoFlash buoy offers high tactical flexibility and opens up promising new opportunities for multi-static operation. Coupled with the FLASH dipping sonar, the SonoFlash buoy enables an aircraft to expand its coverage area and respond with greater agility to evasive maneuvers by a submarine. Thanks to its digitized signal and optimal communication range, the SonoFlash buoy data can be readily exploited by any piloted or remotely piloted aircraft, naval vessel, or shore center equipped with a sonobuoy processing system.
The French Navy will be the first operational user of the SonoFlash buoy, which will be deployed by the modernized Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and NH90 Caiman tactical transport helicopters. It will be delivered to the Navy from 2025. It could be available in export markets to equip all modern maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters and all types of unmanned platforms, including autonomous surface vehicles and rotary-wing (VTOL) and fixed-wing UAVs equipped with a suitable multi-sonobuoy dispenser.
“Thales has packed ten years of innovation in hardware and digital technologies into a tube measuring 91.4 cm long and 12.3 cm in diameter. SonoFlash extends the range of a naval force’s anti-submarine warfare operations, outclassing all other sonobuoys in the market today and offering a versatile and easy-to-deploy solution for tracking submarines from any piloted or remotely piloted aircraft, frigate, or unmanned surface vehicle. We are grateful to the DGA and the Navy for the trust they have placed in us and delighted to be working with French partner SMEs to bring this project to a successful conclusion and restore France’s sovereign capabilities in sonobuoys.” said Alexis Morel, VP Underwater Systems, Thales.
Manufactured in France with a network of SMEs such as TELERAD, SelhaGroup, and Realmeca, the SonoFlash buoy relies on Thales’s acoustic sensor technology expertise to contribute to France’s desire for independence in strategic industries.
