What To Know
- Thalesa company specializing in aerospace, security and defense, has just won a contract with Naval Groupas part of the experimentation of an autonomous passive hull sonar, as announced in a press release published on the company’s website on July 9, 2024.
- The completion of this contract is part of the project launched by the DGA(General Directorate of Armament), with the main objective of experimenting with a “unmanned combat submarine demonstrator” and also to equip the army with the “latest innovations in the field of drones and seabed control”, as specified in the communicated.
- For the moment, the omnidirectional passive hull sonar will be tested on Naval Group’s Oceanic Drone Demonstrator, as part of the UCUV (Unmanned Combat Underwater Vehicle) project, where the XL-UUV drone plays a key role and where innovation and technology are combined with the strategies of navies and naval combat.
Warfare on and under the water surface is increasingly autonomous, thanks to new technological innovations benefiting the various Navies. If drones play a key role in this exponential progress, the sonars with which they are equipped are no less crucial for the successful completion of certain projects.
A contract won by Thales
Yet more excellent news for the French electronics group. Thalesa company specializing in aerospace, security and defense, has just won a contract with Naval Groupas part of the experimentation of an autonomous passive hull sonar, as announced in a press release published on the company’s website on July 9, 2024. The completion of this contract is part of the project launched by the DGA(General Directorate of Armament), with the main objective of experimenting with a “unmanned combat submarine demonstrator” and also to equip the army with the “latest innovations in the field of drones and seabed control”, as specified in the communicated.
A sonar inseparable from Naval Group’s autonomous drone
According to the definition of Laroussea sonar is a “underwater detection device, using sound waves and enabling the location, detection and identification of submerged objects“. The one provided to Naval Group by Thales would therefore make it possible to contribute to securing navigation, in order to better understand”the surface environment“. This sonar would therefore allow the drone to guarantee a safe ascent and emergence from the system. Because this sonar would be essential for navigation”secure autonomous” of an XL-UUV (Extra-Large Unmanned Underwater Vehicle) drone. “The omnidirectional passive hull sonar developed by Thales is a founding brick of the entire acoustic detection installed on this drone. It provides autonomous detection, classification and localization capabilities requiring high-performance signal and data processing, in particular thanks to artificial intelligence.”explained Marc Delors, director of the team participating in the unmanned combat submarine demonstrator project.
Naval combat reinvented by technological innovations
As a report by Naval Group“Unmanned systems are playing an increasingly important role in naval combat, giving navies the technological and tactical superiority they need”. A way to provide a concrete response to “new areas of conflict and asymmetric combat“. For the moment, the omnidirectional passive hull sonar will be tested on Naval Group’s Oceanic Drone Demonstrator, as part of the UCUV (Unmanned Combat Underwater Vehicle) project, where the XL-UUV drone plays a key role and where innovation and technology are combined with the strategies of navies and naval combat.
