Anti-Submarine Warfare

Mastering the underwater situations for acoustic & tactical advantage

Collaborative combat
Drone warfare
Electronic warfare

Thales Anti-Submarine Warfare capability enables to fully understand the underwater situation in real time, processing all the data collected from a set of on and off-board acoustic sensors.

OUR STRENGTHS IN ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE

World 1st in dipping sonar

The 500 FLASH dipping sonars for helicopter already ordered have demonstrated unrivalled capabilities and reliability at sea in any environment, from shallow waters to deep seas.
World 1st in Active Towed Sonar

With more than 100 systems ordered or in service, the CAPTAS VDS family is praised by the leading Navies for their unique ASW performance and reliability. The French Navy, operating CAPTAS-4 and FLASH sonars from FREMM was awarded the prestigious US Navy’s Hook‘em award in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

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New active/passive buoy

Deployed from helicopter, Patrol aircraft or UAV, the SonoFlash buoy, world’s first active/passive sonobuoy, is equipped with a powerful low-frequency acoustic transmitter and a high-directivity receiver for unmatched submarine detection.
Several hundreds SonoFlash have been ordered to equip the French Navy.

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BlueScan®: Collaborative Anti-Submarine Warfare

BlueScan®, integrated in baseline on all Thales surface ship sonars, provides multi-sensor acoustic data fusion and analysis, supporting sonar operators for real-time decision-making during ASW missions.

Bluescan, the scalable solution for collaborative Anti-Submarine Warfare - Thales

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A warship sails on a raging sea under a gray and stormy sky. The camera dives below the surface of the agitated water.
Mastering the environment
Underwater, a 3D animation shows a soaked sonar (an acoustic sensor). The following scene shows a frigate facing forward, with a helicopter on its landing platform, cutting through the waves.
Mastering sensor performance
An enemy submarine stealthily moves into the dark depths of the ocean.
Mastering the threat
A sphere composed of blue digital particles forms and turns.
BLUESCAN - Collaborative Anti-Submarine Warfare Master
A tactical interface in 3D shows two ships emitting sonar waves. A red "ALERT" zone indicates a detected threat. A digital assistant proposes deployment diagrams for acoustic buoys ("Sonobuoys"). The operator consults the available means ("Available Assets") and selects a drone.
3D Anti-Submarine Warfare acoustic situation
Digital assistant recommendations
A surveillance drone flies over the sea and releases an acoustic buoy (sonobouée). This one falls into the water and deploys its sensors below the surface.
A data visualization on a 3D grid shows the acoustic buoys deployed. Their detection fields combine to precisely locate the submarine, represented by a glowing red shape.
Collaborative detection and localisation
The system analyzes the data to identify the threat. An officer interacts with a large touch screen, classifying the contact as "POSSUB 2" (Possible Submarine / Sous-marin possible). He then assigns a helicopter to the relocation mission.
AI-aided rapid classification
A military helicopter hovers over the sea and descends a sonar soaked in water. Once immersed, the sonar deploys and emits acoustic impulses, visible in the form of blue waves.
Threat relocation
On the 3D grid, the detection sphere of the soaked sonar propagates and contacts the submarine. The sphere turns red, confirming the threat’s position.
The helicopter releases a small device that explodes on the water surface, acting as a warning signal.
Warning signal
The signal shock wave propagates towards the submarine on the data grid. The enemy submarine is shown changing course and moving away, interrupting its mission.
Submarine mission denied
A fleet of warships sails on the sea, their protection mission being a success.
BlueScan: superior ASW situation awareness for mission success

From BlueWatcher hull-mounted sonars, FLASH dipping sonar and SonoFlash sonobuoy, up to the most sophisticated Captas-4 variable depth sonar, Thales sonar solutions for Anti-Submarine Warfare capitalize on more than 60 years’ experience, serving around 40 navies.

OUR CAPABILITIES IN ANTI-SUBMARINE WARFARE

During REPMUS 2024, Thales demonstrated its ability to fit UAS with efficient ASW solutions, by processing data from sonobuoys at sea relayed by a S-100 UAS towards BlueTracker® sonobuoy processing system. In addition, M-Cube demonstrated its capability to manage multiple uncrewed assets on the operational assets. Thales also offers the Thin Line Towed Array product range that includes BlueSentry^TM and BlueSentry XL solutions for USV’s and XLUUV’s.

At Thales, we understand the need for ships and crews to be ready for action at a moment’s notice. We collaborate with navies to ensure their crews and technology are available at any time, delivering a wide range of support and service packages, as well as operational services and training.

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SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATIVE MARITIME DRONES

Drone warfare
Defence
Naval

Demonstrating sensors, solutions and systems at REPMUS 2025

Through the sponsorships and commitment of various navies, Thales was proud to participate in NATO’s REPMUS exercise. Thales teams collaborated with customers and other partners to demonstrate and support today’s and tomorrow’s (uncrewed) maritime solutions.

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