Industry: Thales to upgrade Collins submarine with latest generation sonar systems

Royal Australian Navy Collins class Submarine

Thales has signed a design and pre-production contract to upgrade Australia’s Collins class submarine sonar systems, enhancing their capability to outperform the most advanced underwater threats in an increasingly complex environment.

• Maintain Royal Australian Navy’s operational edge in the region and contribute to Australian sovereignty
• Better detection of evolving underwater threats and upgrades to cylindrical and flank arrays, as well as on-board processing
• Benefits of multi-decade investment in Australian innovation

As Australia’s leading provider of sonar technologies, Thales will build on its local and international expertise to prepare for upgrades to the submarines’ cylindrical array, flank array, and on-board processing to maintain Royal Australian Navy superiority in the region.

Benefitting from a multi-decade investment in Australian innovation, Thales will utilise some of the latest developments in underwater sensing to replace the Collins arrays, which have not been upgraded since first entering service in the mid-1990s.

AUS: Thales Australia Awarded Collins Sonar Upgrade Design

The Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, today announced that Thales Australia has been awarded a $100 million contract  to design a major sonar system upgrade for Collins class submarines.

Minister Pyne said Thales Australia will engage other Australian-based companies including Sonartech Atlas and L3 Oceania, as well as suppliers from the United Kingdom (UK) and France to design the Collins sonar system upgrade.

“The sonar system upgrade will install improved sonar sensor arrays aboard each of the Collins submarines, as well as improved signal processing systems,” Minister Pyne said.

“Under the contract Australian industry will play a key role in delivering leading edge sonar capability for Australian submarines.”

“The Australian industry component of the contract to be led by Thales Australia is worth in the order of $50 million and will support around 50 Australian jobs in Sydney and Perth.

“This is a clear example of our commitment to building and harnessing the innovation potential of Australia’s defence industry, as outlined in the 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement,” he said.

AUS DoD