Elbit Integrates Active Towed Array Sonar on Seagull Unmanned Surface Vessel

16 April, 2020

Israel-based international defense electronics company Elbit Systems Ltd. announced today the successful integration of the Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar (TRAPS) for Unmanned Surface Vessels (TRAPS-USV) onboard the Company’s Seagull USV. The sea trials included multiple deployment and recovery cycles, towing at different speeds and transmission at various power levels.

Integration of the TRAPS-USV enables the Seagull USV to perform Anti-Submarine Warfare operations on-the-move, substantially extending its operative range and further enhancing its flexibility. The integration of the TRAPS-USV follows the recent conversion for operation, by the Israeli Navy, of Helicopter Long-Range Active Sonar (HELRAS) dipping sonar onboard the Seagull USV.

The Seagull autonomous multi-mission USV features a plug and play, modular mission payload suites and can perform, in addition to ASW, Mine Countermeasure missions (MCM), Electronic Warfare (EW), Maritime Security (MS), underwater surveys and other missions using the same vessel, mission control system and data links.

TRAPS-USV is the compact and powerful low frequency towed sonar that was recently introduced by Geospectrum, the Company’s Canadian wholly owned subsidiary. The TRAPS-USV version is a compact variant of the TRAPS, an operationally proven technology that is intended for detection, classification, localization, and tracking of submarines in ASW operations. TRAPS versions are containerized or permanent-fit for any size, diverse purpose vessel. The TRAPS-USV variant is lighter weight but maintains all acoustic active sonar capabilities of the regular TRAPS.

Courtesy: Opera News/ militaryleak.com