A Merlin HM2 from 824 Naval Air Squadron. Ultra Maritime has been awarded a new contract to supply sonobuoys to the Merlin Helicopter Force. (Richard Scott/Navypix)
Ultra Maritime has been awarded a GBP18 million (USD23 million) contract by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply sonobuoys for the Royal Navy's (RN's) Merlin HM2 maritime helicopter.
Announcing the contract in February, the company said the award – covering sonobuoy engineering, manufacturing, logistics, and support – will ensure that the RN “maintains a persistent ASW [anti-submarine warfare] surveillance capability detecting, locating, and tracking hostile submarines”.
Janes understands that the order includes both SSQ-926 Active Low Frequency Electro-Acoustic (ALFEA) and SSQ-955 High Instantaneous Dynamic range Analysis and Recording (HIDAR) sonobuoys.
Based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in southwest England, the Merlin HM2 fleet is deployed to protect UK home waters, support the Continuous at-Sea Deterrent, and provide ASW force protection for the carrier strike group. A recent HM2 acoustic suite upgrade, which achieved initial operating capability (IOC) in March 2024, introduced multistatic active processing and an accompanying capability to process up to 32 buoys concurrently (compared with the previous eight).
Ultra Maritime is currently investing in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at its Greenford site in west London. According to the company, this modernised infrastructure will enable the production of sonobuoys to be scaled as required.
Further analysis and assessment onlineFeature: UK Royal Navy looks to Spearhead to regain ASW edgeUpdate: Thales awarded contract to supply SonoFlash sonobuoys for French NavyBoeing rolls out first German Poseidon MMACamcopter S-300 UAS to demonstrate anti-submarine and seabed warfare for European requirementProteus RWUAS set for mid-2025 flight-testingLooking to read the full article?
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