Thales has secured a contract to equip the French Navy with its SonoFlash combined active/passive A-size sonobuoy. (Thales)
The French defence procurement agency (Direction Générale de l'Armement: DGA) has awarded Thales a contract to equip the French Navy with its new SonoFlash combined active/passive sonobuoy.
Announcing the milestone on 30 January, Thales said the scope of the contract included the supply of “several hundred” SonoFlash sonobuoys to the French Navy.
The deal follows the recent completion of the qualification trials phase, which concluded with a final end-to-end test of the sonobuoy from one of the French Navy's Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) in December 2024, a Thales spokesperson told Janes.
Full qualification of SonoFlash is expected to be achieved during the second semester of 2025, after which a first operational batch will be delivered to the French Navy for operational evaluation. The first platform to be installed with SonoFlash will be the navy's modernised Atlantique 2 MPAs, followed by its NH90 Caiman shipborne helicopters.
SonoFlash is a new-generation acoustic sonobuoy developed by Thales to meet the French Navy's future airborne anti-submarine warfare (ASW) requirements while re-establishing a sovereign capability for sonobuoy design and onshore manufacture and freeing France from its reliance on US-produced sonobuoys.
In contrast to the current sonobuoys on the market, which are either active or passive, SonoFlash offers both modes by combining a high-power transmitter with a passive low-frequency receiver into one acoustic buoy. This dual use is intended to reduce the number of assets required in a multistatic field.
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