Sonar 2087 is a

towed array sonar A towed array sonar is a system of hydrophones towed behind a submarine or a surface ship on a cable. Trailing the hydrophones behind the vessel, on a cable that can be kilometers long, keeps the array's sensors away from the ship's own noise sour ...

designed and manufactured by

Thales Underwater Systems Thales Underwater Systems or TUS (formerly Thomson Sintra ASM, Thomson CSF DASM and then Thomson Marconi Sonar) is a subsidiary of the French defense electronics specialist Thales Group. It was created in 2001 and belongs to its naval division. It ...

at sites in the UK (

Cheadle Heath Cheadle Heath is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, west of the town centre and southeast of Manchester. Cheadle Heath railway station, on the site now occupied by Morrisons supermarket, closed in 1967. It is home to Chea ...

in Stockport and

Templecombe Templecombe is a village in Somerset, England, situated on the A357 road five miles south of Wincanton, east of Yeovil, and west of Salisbury. The village has a population of 1,560. Along with the hamlet of Combe Throop, it forms the parish of ...

in Somerset) and in France (

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

). Sonar 2087 replaces the older

Sonar 2031 Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and equips eight

Type 23 frigate The Type 23 frigate or Duke class is a class of frigates built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The ships are named after British Dukes, thus leading to the class being commonly known as the Duke class. The first Type 23, , was commission ...

s. The system is also expected to equip the Royal Navy's future Type 26

Global Combat Ship The Type 26 frigate or City-class frigate is a class of frigate being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built for the Australian and Canadian navies. The programme, known as the Global Combat Ship, was launched ...

starting around 2020. It is a Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS) and consists of both active and passive sonar arrays. Thales describes the system as "a towed-array that enables Type 23 frigates to hunt the latest submarines at considerable distances and locate them beyond the range at which they ubmarinescan launch an attack." During Exercise Auriga in 2010, HMS ''Sutherland's'' capability equipped with Sonar 2087 was described as "world-beating" by the Sutherland's commanding officer. American, British, Canadian and French warships took part in the exercise, including the French nuclear submarine ''Perle''.Exercise Auriga
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References

Sonar 2087 Sonar 2087 is a towed array sonar designed and manufactured by Thales Underwater Systems at sites in the UK (Cheadle Heath in Stockport and Templecombe in Somerset) and in France ( Brest). Sonar 2087 replaces the older Sonar 2031 in the Royal Navy ...

Military sonar equipment of the United Kingdom United Kingdom defence procurement {{UK-mil-stub

See also

References