Canadian firm GeoSpectrum has launched a new and compact version of its towed reelable active passive sonar (TRAPS), suitable for unmanned surface vessels (USV).
Named TRAPS-USV, this lighter-weight variant, is designed to fit on almost any size vessel including patrol boats and USVs while retaining full active sonar acoustic capabilities and providing low-frequency active submarine detection off smaller platforms.
With overall system weight reduced to approximately 40 per cent of the already compact TRAPS, TRAPS-USV allows surface vessels and USVs as small as 12 meters long, to be equipped with a long-range active sonar ASW capability.
This enables the USVs to perform ASW operations on the move performing independent missions or augmenting manned ASW assets including opportunities for advanced techniques such as bi-static and multi-static operation.
Similar to its “larger brother”, TRAPS-USV is a Low Frequency (LF) variable-depth-sonar intended for detection, classification, localization, and tracking of submarines in ASW operations.
According to GeoSpectrum, TRAPS’ advantage is that its’ projector array is reelable and stows on the winch drum with the receive array and tow cable.
Both TRAPS and TRAPS-USV also have the capability to swap out and exchange active sonar projectors allowing O-level adaptation of the system to different active sonar frequencies in the 2 to 10 kHz range, the company explains.
The containerized version of TRAPS first went to sea, onboard Royal Canadian Navy ships in 2019.
Sonar processing for TRAPS-USV is performed by GeoSpectrum’s sensor-agnostic RecView sonar processing capability which was designed for remote / distributed operation.
Paul Yeatman , president of GeoSpectrum, said: “We are proud and excited to offer the world’s most compact LF active variable depth sonar, suitable for even small class USVs. We understand that unmanned systems can and will play a significant role in modern ASW operations and are confident that TRAPS-USV is a significant game-changer in this respect. TRAPS-USV is yet another step in the TRAPS innovation to provide high-performance ASW capabilities in a compact form and affordable costs. We are proud to work with Curtiss-Wright/Indal our partners for the reduced weight winch and handling system”.