UK anti-submarine warfare (ASW) specialist SEA has been awarded a contract to supply two of its KraitSense ASW systems to an unnamed Southeast Asian navy for a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) programme, the Cohort subsidiary announced on 5 June 2023.
KraitSense is a lightweight passive ASW system that is designed to bring an ASW capability to smaller, non-specialist platforms such as OPVs. The system contains SEA’s KraitArray low-profile sonar sensor, handling equipment, processing hardware and software, as well as an interactive user control station to view, analyse, report sonar contact information and maintain the system.
“KraitSense is an extremely capable yet cost-effective ASW system with a lower footprint, weight and power requirement compared to alternatives,” David Hinds, Vice President of Strategic Accounts at SEA, was quoted as saying in a company press release. “This means customers such as this navy can enable ASW capability on smaller vessels that traditionally would not be able to host or financially justify this type of capability previously.”
“With a vast coastline and high number of islands within their jurisdiction, as well as a growing underwater threat in the Southeast Asian region, bolstering ASW capability is crucial,” Hinds added. “KraitSense is an agile system that can upgrade their overall capability and we’re delighted to be supplying an end-to-end solution that will help them to deal with increasingly complex threats.”
With low power consumption, drag and weight, the KraitArray sonar sensor also offers significant cost efficiencies when compared to traditional line and towed arrays, making it suitable for smaller ships and unmanned vessels, according to SEA.
KraitSense has previously been demonstrated on smaller vessels during NATO’s Portugal-led Exercise Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping with Maritime Uncrewed Systems (REP(MUS)) in 2019, where it detected, tracked, and classified a submarine while deployed from a Portuguese Navy OPV. The system was also demonstrated at REP(MUS) in 2022, where it was integrated with an extra-large uncrewed underwater vehicle (XLUUV).
To deliver this ASW system SEA has collaborated with sonar data processing specialist ELAC Sonar, another of the Cohort Group companies, to provide its Southeast Asian customer with the very best software capability, the company noted.
Peter Felstead
