The new buoy type, the AN/SSQ-125A (Q-125A) which was recently officially qualified, was developed by ERAPSCO after 24 months of effort. The Q-125A will provide advanced active sonar capabilities to the U.S. Navy fleet of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and will further the U.S. Navy’s ability to counter stealthy modern submarines from our foreign adversaries. ERAPSCO will award production subcontracts in the amount of $3.6 million and $8 million to Ultra Electronics USSI and Sparton. Production operations will take place at Ultra Electronics USSI’s Columbia City, IN facility and Sparton’s DeLeon Springs, FL facility, and are expected to be completed by November 2023.
Tracy Howard, Chief Executive Officer of Sparton DLS, commented: “As a proud member of the ASW community in uniform and business for over 35 years, I am pleased that we are able to provide the highest quality sonobuoy engineering and production to the US Navy and our allies throughout the world. Our Sparton team is filled with pride and patriotism as we are able to directly support our warfighters.”
Eric Webster, President of Ultra Sonobuoy Systems: “This is an important milestone in creating advanced capability for the U.S. Navy, and I am pleased our team continues to lead the industry into the next generation with proven expertise in transducer development and acoustic signal processing. This ability to deliver cutting edge ASW technology is essential to U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare efforts.”
Featuring digital signal processing and compass capabilities, the A-size, expendable AN/SSQ-125 MAC sonobuoy enables airborne navy personnel to perform bearing verification, target localisation and tracking. In addition, the underwater signalling and receiving device enables the operator to accurately detect very quiet diesel submarines or a underwater vessels in attack mode even in adverse conditions. Capable of generating a variety of waveforms, the AN/SSQ-125 can be used to locate and identify acoustic emissions or reflections from enemy submarines and transmit signals to the navy airborne anti-submarine warfare forces. Before being deployed, the AN/SSQ-125’s RF channel can be programmed to any of the standard sonobuoy operating channels and can be changed to its operating parameters or in depths, generate a ping, or scuttle while on a mission.
Sparton is a world leader in the design, development, testing and production of complex maritime electronic systems, including sonobuoys in support of Anti-Submarine Warfare, submarine deployed products supporting Undersea Warfare, and depth-rated encapsulated systems to support Subsea and Seabed Warfare. Sparton’s advanced technology expertise is focused on rapid development of custom solutions for use in harsh, maritime environments deployed from a range of undersea, surface and air platforms.
Ultra provides application-engineered solutions in the key elements of mission critical and intelligent systems. Through innovative problem solving, using sustainable capabilities, and evolving technologies, we deliver outstanding solutions to our customers’ most complex problems in defense, security, critical detection, and control environments.