Thales Australia
has signed a major contract with the Defence Materiel Organisation to deliver a
significant update to the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine sonar systems.
The company will address obsolescence issues on the Collins
class Scylla sonar, boosting the reliability of a system that was initially
designed over a quarter of a century ago.
Specifically, the project will replace existing equipment in
the Scylla Signal Processing Cabinets
with modern Commercial Off The Shelf
(COTS) components, and also re-host the software.
Implementing the new technology will result in a system
requiring less than 20% of the number of processing racks currently used, as
well as significantly fewer processing boards than its predecessor.
Industry-standard COTS boards will replace bespoke originals,
making the system easier to maintain and providing enhanced reliability.
The resulting COTS-based system will benefit from a reduced
through life cost and will deliver substantial power savings, together with a
weight saving of more than a tonne.
The growth potential within the new system will also provide
the opportunity for the RAN to significantly enhance its sonar detection
capability in the future.
Thales Australia chief executive officer Chris Jenkins said: “The Collins Class
submarines have a very capable sonar suite, but time has moved on and we are
now leveraging advances in technology to deliver an important update that will
treat obsolescence and result in substantial space, power and weight savings.
“We have invested over many years and built a significant
level of submarine sonar expertise in Australia, starting on the Collins in the
1980s, and then leveraging this on other naval platforms. This is deep
technical expertise of international standing. Having this capability in
country enables us to provide these kinds of updates economically, quickly and
at low risk.”
The vast majority of the update work will be performed at
Thales Australia’s underwater systems facility in Rydalmere, western Sydney.
The update will be physically installed in the first of six
submarines in 2014 following trials at sea in 2013.