Norway-based shipbuilder Vard has awarded maritime solutions company Kongsberg Maritime a contract for the delivery of its sonars for a new class of Norwegian Coast Guard vessels.
The sonars will be fitted onto the three ice-strengthened vessels that are being built by Vard under a contract from 2018. All three are scheduled for launch between 2022 and 2024, as replacement for the current fleet of Nordkapp-class vessels.
The new 136-meter, ice-strengthened vessels will get the SS1221 sonars, which boast acoustic properties which make them ideally suited for multiple operations safeguarding Norwegian territorial waters, especially those requiring deployment in shallow-water environments.
The SS1221, principally devised for ASW operations and capable of detecting torpedoes or other small objects in the water column, is an active hull-mounted sonar which utilises sophisticated tracking algorithms. Its electronically-stabilised transmitting and receiving beams can be tilted to adjust to challenging sound speed profiles, with its integrated Sound Propagation Model determining the optimal tilt settings and enhancing the Probability of Detection (PoD) ratio. The SS1221 sonars will be delivered to the Coast Guard complete with retractable hull units and gate valves for ice protection.
“We are very pleased to have been selected by the Norwegian Coast Guard, and to further strengthen our position as a principal supplier of coastal and shallow-water sonar equipment,” says Thomas H. Dahle, director of sales at Kongsberg.
