ARLINGTON, Va. - The Office of Naval Research has awarded BAE Systems Information & Electronic Systems Integration Inc. in Merrimack, N.H., a $12.6 million contract to develop and demonstrate an advanced sonar system for the Navy's UnderSea Advantage Block Upgrade (USABU) Future Naval Capability (FNC) program.
Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, BAE Systems will partner with Sparton Corporation to integrate BAE-developed sonar technology into existing sonobuoy components from Sparton. The effort is intended to produce a next-generation sonobuoy with improved acoustic sensing capability while maintaining compatibility with the Navy's standard "A"-size deployment package used by maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters.
Sonobuoys sensors
Sonobuoys are expendable acoustic sensors deployed from aircraft or ships to detect, classify, and track submarines and other underwater targets. Once deployed, the devices transmit underwater acoustic data back to aircraft or ships for processing and analysis during anti-submarine warfare operations.
Modern sonobuoy systems increasingly rely on advanced digital signal processing, low-noise electronics, and distributed acoustic sensing techniques to improve performance in both open-ocean and littoral environments.
Related: Navy asks Sparton for 20,000 multistatic sonobuoys for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in $107.1 million deal
Sparton has long supplied sonobuoy systems for Navy airborne anti-submarine warfare missions, including the AN/SSQ-53 DIFAR passive sonobuoy and AN/SSQ-62 DICASS active sonobuoy. These sonobuoy types are deployed by platforms such as the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and MH-60R Seahawk helicopter to support Navy anti-submarine warfare missions against modern undersea threats.
The contract supports ongoing Navy efforts to modernize undersea warfare technologies as adversary submarines become quieter and more difficult to detect. Maintaining compatibility with existing launch systems and deployment methods could enable improved sensing capability without requiring major modifications to operational aircraft or shipboard launch equipment.
The project will culminate in an at-sea demonstration in which the prototype sonobuoy will be deployed to collect acoustic data under operational conditions.
Contract details
The total cumulative contract value of $12,562,662 includes a 40-month base period, a 12-month option period, and a 6-month option period. Fiscal 2025 and 2026 Navy research, development, test, and evaluation funds totaling approximately $2.25 million were obligated at the time of award.
The contract was competitively procured under the Navy and Marine Corps Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Science and Technology Research. The Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.
Work on the contract will be performed in Merrimack, N.H. (65%) and DeLeon Springs, Fla. (35%), and is expected to conclude by September 2029.
