Navy eyes open industry competition for high-power sonar transducers

U.S. Navy undersea warfare experts are asking industry to build, test, and deliver high-power transducers for the Navy's AN/WQC-2A underwater communications system that links surface ships, submarines, and coastal shore stations. Officials of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, R.I., announced plans to release a formal solicitation for the TR-232C Transducers project to manufacture, test, inspect, package, and deliver TR-232C transducers, TR-232C connectors, and TR-232 boots. The TR-232 performs the high-power, low-frequency transducer function for the Navy's AN/WQC-2A underwater sonar communication system, which is in-use on more than 600 naval surface ships and submarines worldwide. The transducer is a piezoelectric design and features a horizontal radial omni-directional beam pattern.