OKI extends JMSDF sensor expertise to Australian frigates

JS Chogei, the fifth Taigei-class submarine. (ATLA)

Japanese company OKI Electric Industry, a long-standing supplier of sensors to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), is set to support the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) sensor requirements as it seeks to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific.

Speaking to Janes, Masaya Motosugi, executive officer and head of Defense Systems Division at OKI, said the company has decades of experience supplying sonars and sonobuoys to the JMSDF and has been selected to provide sonar systems for the RAN's future upgraded Mogami-class frigates, marking its first overseas transfer of defence equipment.

Japan

Motosugi said that all JMSDF submarines and the majority of the service's surface vessels are equipped with OKI sonar systems.

According to Janes data, the JMSDF operates 25 diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) across three classes, including eight Oyashio-class, 12 Soryu-class, and five Taigei-class submarines.

Motosugi said the service's most recently commissioned submarine, the fifth Taigei-class SSK JS Chogei, is equipped with the latest version of its ZQQ-8 sonar system, which comprises a passive towed array sonar (TAS), a bow array sonar and flank array sonars.

According to a Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD) document released in fiscal year (FY) 2021, ZQQ-8 is installed on submarines contracted from FY 2017. The document states that future submarine sonar systems will build on the ZQQ-8 by expanding reception frequency bandwidth through improved hydrophone capabilities and enhanced arrays. The future systems will also be capable of integrating signals from multiple arrays and automatically classifying targets.