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The U.S. Navy has selected Raytheon Company on the 23rd of April to provide the new Variable Depth Sonar for the Littoral Combat Ship class. The $27.9 million contract followed a study and product assessment phase during which Raytheon proved the solution’s features and capabilities met all of the Navy’s design and performance requirements. A mission-critical anti-submarine warfare asset, the VDS will be deployed from LCS to locate and track enemy submarines.
“We leveraged decades of sonar systems expertise and our proven ability to innovate to create this groundbreaking technology,” said Raytheon’s Paul Ferraro, vice president of Integrated Defense Systems’ Seapower Capability Systems business area. “Raytheon’s reliable, cost-effective variable depth sonar will allow the Navy to rapidly introduce this new anti-submarine capability to meet the LCS mission.”
This ship-deployed sonar system design, identical for both LCS variants, features reduced weight to minimize ship impact, increased maneuverability and it provides the opportunity for increased warfighting payloads. Ease of operation improves crew efficiency and operational effectiveness. These features were validated by the fleet sailors who operated the system at a full-scale demonstration at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in August 2016.
Raytheon’s VDS benefits from the agility and expertise of a dedicated team, including Curtiss Wright-Indal, Adaptive Methods, Inc., Purvis Systems and Harbor Branch.
Now under contract, Raytheon will advance its design to a full Pre-Production Test Article, expected to be complete in late 2018. The contract includes options for production which, if exercised, brings total contract value to more than $300 million.
