The UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Sutherland has completed an operational test after the installation of Thales Sonar 2087 system during its latest refurbishment.
During the tests as part of the navy’s Auriga deployment, the Sonar 2087 system has performed to the set standards together with a Merlin helicopter fitted with the Thales FLASH dipping sonar.
A Type 23 frigate equipped with Sonar 2087 towed-array system will be able to hunt the latest submarines and locate them beyond the range at which they can launch an attack.
Manufactured at Thales facilities in the UK and France, the low-frequency active sonar comprises active and passive sonar arrays.
The tests demonstrated that the combination of Sonar 2087 and FLASH makes the frigate an advanced anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform.
Around 2,000 navy personnel from the UK, France, Canada and US navies along with their submarines, ships and aircraft are involved in the Auriga exercise off the eastern seaboard of North America.
HMS Sutherland has been working with the allied navies in the Auriga task group as the ASW Commander during its four-and-a-half month deployment.
