Thales expands towed array sonar family to equip medium-size frigates

Paris. Thales announced the launch of its new compact CAPTAS-4 towed array sonar, which provides frigates with an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability to support collaborative combat at sea.

Thales announced this at Euronaval 2016 in Paris October 18.

The new product is a compact, modular version of the CAPTAS-4 four-ring sonar. It requires less room on board the vessel, in particular because it incorporates an optimised deployment and recovery system for the towed array.

The compact version of CAPTAS-4 delivers the same detection performance as CAPTAS-4 with 20% weight reduction and a 50% smaller footprint. In addition, the compact version can be containerised, making it the only product of its kind that can be moved from ship to ship to maximize operational effectiveness.

By making the world’s most capable sonar available to surface fleets as a compact, modular, ready-to-deploy system, Thales has once again demonstrated its ability to innovate to meet new the operational requirements of naval forces. The compact version of the CAPTAS-4 provides an ASW capability that creates high operational value at relatively low cost.

Any frigates equipped with the new CAPTAS-4 compact will now have the same collaborative anti-submarine warfare capabilities as destroyers.

Thales is proposing to supply compact versions of CAPTAS-4 to the French Navy under the FTI (Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire) programme, which was officially unveiled by the defence ministry at Euronaval 2016.