Composite materials specialists Tods Defence have secured the order for three Bow Sonar Domes for the new fleet of Royal Australian Navy ‘Air Warfare Destroyers’ (Hobart Class) which are due to start coming into service from 2013/14.
The Class is a derivative of the Spanish F105 design and is being developed by the Air Warfare Alliance comprising the Defence Material Organisation, Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) and Raytheon Australia. It will be built at a new facility adjacent to the ASC facilities in Adelaide.
The design and build Bow Sonar Dome contract for Tods Defence is part of a continuing partnership with the Australian naval industry, with each of the new units being produced in the UK to coincide with the ship build programme.
Bow Sonar Dome enclosures are specifically designed to house underwater warfare detection systems and sensors. Variants of Tods products are now installed numerous platforms worldwide including F100 and F310 frigates, on the RN Type 45 destroyers and US Navy DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class ships.
Steve Burton, Managing Director Tods Defence say: “Although our design concept has been in proven service with a number of navies for thirty years, with each new class of vessel we have to work closely with international systems providers in their development so that we can fine tune particular customer requirements to provide the optimum performance.”
Source: Tods Defence
