This article is included in these additional categories:

Contracts - Modifications | Helicopters & Rotary | Raytheon | Sensors - Aquatic | Spotlight articles | Thales | USA

Fly and Listen: The AN/AQS-22 ALFS Sonar System

FLASH sonar in drop & listen positions

FLASH sonar
(click to view full)

September 2/19: Denmark The State Department also approved a FMS to Denmark for nine AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS) systems and six hundred AN/SSQ-36/53/62 Sonobuoys with support for an estimated cost of $200 million. The AN/AQS-22 ALFS dipping sonar and sonobuoy processing system is the primary anti-submarine warfare sensor of US Navy’s MH-60R multi-mission helicopter. It provides mission-critical capabilities, including submarine detection, tracking, localization, classification, acoustic intercept, underwater communication and environmental data collection. The AQS-22 dipping sonar features 4-time greater area coverage than current systems, active or passive sonar modes, active or passive sonobuoys, enhanced shallow water capability, generate high power waveforms and many other advanced characteristics.

 

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MH-60R & ALFS, Bermuda (click to view full) The AN/AQS-22 Airborne Low-Frequency Sonar (ALFS) will equip the US Nay’s new MH-60R multi-mission helicopters, serving as their primary anti-submarine sensor. The new FLASH sonar operates using lower frequencies and higher-power waveforms than existing dipping sonars, improving long-range detection. The AQS-22 dipping sonar claims 4x the area coverage of current systems, and includes both active or passive sonar modes to help track, localize, and classify submarines. A winching system with up to 2,500 feet of cable raises and lowers the sonar. The ALFS system complements the MH-60R’s radar, and works in concert with other equipment including active or passive sonobuoys, signal processing improvements that are especially helpful in shallow water. This Spotlight article highlights ALFS-related contracts from 2002 to the present. Contracts & Key Events [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SHArQEV3iU] click for video ALFS is a cooperative venture between Raytheon Corp. and Thales Underwater Systems, which supplies a modified version of its FLASH wide-band sonar. Thales’ Folding Light Acoustic System for Helicopters (FLASH) helicopter-borne dipping sonar is widely popular, and has been chosen by the USA (MH-60R), France (NH90 NFH), Norway (NH90 NFH), Sweden (NH90 NFH), UAE (Naval Cougar), and UK (EH101 MERLIN); it is also […]

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