The Ministry of Defence has inked a new contract deal with Ultra Electronics Limited.
The notice, published on 14 Aug 2023, discloses the provision of three Sonar 2170 Surface Ship Torpedo Defence (SSTD) Fit-to-Receive (FTR) kits.
These advanced defence systems are set to be integrated onto the Type 31 Frigates.
“Ship Acquisition, which is part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) have awarded a contract to Ultra Electronics Limited for the provision of three Sonar 2170 SSTD Fit-to-Receive (FTR) kits.”
The contract, valued at £886K, is set to last a year, with the delivery timeline from 26 Jun 2023 to 25 Jun 2024.
This isn’t the MoD’s first deal for these kits. We previously reported a deal for the first three of the kits in 2022.
These kits, known as Sonar 270 in Royal Navy parlance, entered into service with the Royal Navy back in 2004.
Produced by Ultra Electronics, they are christened Sea Sentor for the export market. The robust SSTD system is equipped with:
- An acoustic passive towed array
- A towed acoustic countermeasure (flexible)
- A single-drum winch
- A processing cabinet
- Two display consoles
- Two expendable acoustic device launchers (1 port, 1 starboard)
- Sixteen expendable acoustic devices (8 in each launcher)
damn cheap
Yes cheap, not necessarily very effective and a “minimum fit” or token gesture at best. When we have expensive surface warships that take years to build why are we not fitting them with hard kill effective anti torpedo and anti mine weapons that do exist and are fitted to our NATO allies warships?
Yes it does seem pointless 🙄
The company making it describes it better (their capitals)
COMPREHENSIVE NETWORK CENTRIC WARFARE SYSTEM COMPRISING:
• HULL-MOUNT SONAR
• VARIABLE DEPTH SONAR
• TORPEDO DEFENCE
It’s cheap because it isn’t the decoy system. It’s 3x fitting kits to be installed in the Type so they can integrate the decoy system when they buy them.
I guess if you fit the fitting kits in all the T31 , you don’t necessarily need to buy a decoy system for each one, you can swap them in and out as needed ?
This is just a load of cables and fixing points and wiring looms for the decoy kits. Not the decoy kits.
In the 1980s, before car radios were fitted as standard, the base Metro came without a radio, not even a hole in the dash for a radio, no wiring loom for the radio. It had nothing. It had space for a radio – like the T45 has a Gym and space for strike length missiles. Just like the T31 had space for a decoy system. The next model Metro up had a hole in the dash with a blanking plate and wiring for a radio. It was Fitted For But Not With a radio. This is the difference between “space… Read more »
When i saw the price on another site i had to do a double take. I assume its not the full delivery price, as anything vaguely miltiary based normally costs 10-20 times that price.
So that’s 6 now?
And how did you get 6? Lol 😂
Because 3 were already ordered last year. There was an article about it.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/contract-placed-for-type-31-frigate-torpedo-defence-system/
3 plus 3.
Please educate me, is this just a torpedo defence kit or can it be used for general underwater detection? Great to see the T31s protected in this way.
It is primarily for Torpedo Defence but can offer a basic ( AFAIK ) Underwater detection capability ☝
Thank you 👍
This is just a bit of kit for torpedo defence mate, wont really work against SMs as the kit looks in a different frequency spectrum to where most SM signatures fall.
Thanks Deep
A decoy at a guess.
It’s a decoy system only
Do these go on the Stone frigate too, or have we a spare?
Pardon my ignorance but, this very much reads as a towed array sonar, so not just a ‘torpedo’ defence kit? How does this differ from the 2087 towed array that will go into the T26? Anyone?
Sorry, just spotted responses to Wayne’s post. Thanks guys.
But aren’t torpedoes launched from submarines? And don’t folks defending the lack of ASW detection capabilities of the T31 and its helicopter assure us that it doesn’t need them because we won’t be deploying them where there’s a submarine threat (such as in the PersianGulf)? So either T31 won’t ever be deployed independently anywhere near potentially hostile submarines in which case this torpedo detection equipment is a waste of money or, it may find itself deployed where there is an submarine threat in which case it needs ASW detection equipment to try to find the submarine before it’s listening to… Read more »
Absolutely correct Steve. If a T31 detects an incoming torpedo, it’s in for a very very bad day, period.
The decoys might work. This is not only a detection system.
If the array can’t detect anything, the decoys have nothing to aim at, so yes it’s all linked in that sense.
You can probably just discharge the decoys from a panel, but why would you, if you can’t see where the torpedo is?
Why would the array do not detect anything? I mean that can also happen to a anti submarine sonar.
Hi Alex, A bit of poor English on my part, sorry for that. I will try to give you a better answer, without straying into areas that I would rather not. So, yes its based on a TA system, and yes it will still detect noise, in that you are correct. However, don’t expect/compare the capabilities of this system with a fully fledged SM LFTA system, the two are effectively miles apart in terms of what they provide. 2170 is designed as a torpedo detection system, so, looks at specific frequencies/characteristics that torpedoes produce. All torpedoes use one of 3… Read more »
Oh…it will detect a torpedo…and then do a lot of other stuff to help you get away from it…
Hi mate, I’m absolutely sure the kit will detect an incoming torpedo, possibly even the discharge depending on weapon system. Then I’m sure, the fun really starts, especially if its a wire guided HWT!!
That’s why it gives you course and speed to steer info, does decoy launches and the bit at the end the tail does its various things
Might work… About 50% if the time. If the towed array sensors are deployed at the time a torpedo is fired at the ship.
It’s a soft kill decoy. Not a hard kill anti torpedo defence system. Therein lies the problem. Whole host of issues with a towed array decoy system. In short very limited capability that might be useful or might just actually be….and call me cynical here an attempt by HMG to fit a minimum standard of equipment that isn’t actually very effective and nowhere near as good as hard kill systems fitted to our NATO allies warships.
So you’d rather they had all or nothing? Even if we could ensure our T31s were never deployed near an enemy sub, we’d have a problem ensuring enemy subs never deployed near our Type 31s. In a war they will be put in danger. Did you think we could go to war and nobody need die, because we could buy a countermeasure to everything on our infinite budget? People don’t build hunter go-home-for-tea submarines, they build hunter-killers, because kill they will. Ideally, we’d never go to war, but that idea is BS too. Risks need to be balanced. So the… Read more »
The notion that not equipping large modern frigates with an appropriate ASW sonar system is some kind of reasonable money saving compromise is dubious notion in the extreme I think. One might ask if such a idea were indeed justifiable then why don’t other nations pursue such a policy? Or is this yet another case of the MoD being right and everyone else wrong? Ultimately, history shows us that failing to properly equipe warships with the all the systems required to both operate effectively and survive in action doesn’t ‘save’ money it actually costs warring nations dearly – in terms… Read more »
France doesn’t have a hull sonar on its Horizons…Italy does but not France. USN Constellation’s won’t have a hull mounted sonar but will get a tail eventually. LCS doesnt have anything ASW and it was built to do ASW. You cannot equip a warship with everything unless its HMS Massive, but that ship and its weapons and sensor fit is classified so it cannot be discussed. You tailor a ship and its Operational Capability to the threat at hand. So T45 doesn’t do ASW the same as a T23/T26 doesn’t do Fleet Area Air Defence. Its still years until T31… Read more »
I thought I saw HMS Massive of the coast of Cornwall the other week. I looked out to sea, which the previous day have been clear, bright and blue, and all I saw was a mass of “grey”. It even looked like it was just a storm coming in, its onboard camouflage was that effective. Time we concentrated on building more of these “Dreadnought” replacements rather than tiny T26’s, 31’s and 45’s etc. 😀😁
Hi GB, You’ve highlighted the key difference of the T31 programme compared to past classes, including the T26. The T26, for example, is a high end ASW platform which can defend itself and has flexibility build in. The T31 is a flexible ship that can look after itself in most situations. That might just look like a play on words to most, but to the designers and engineers building the T31 and the RN who are going to operate them it is a whole different ball game with a lot still to think through. The flexibility mean these ships will… Read more »
Agree. T26 excepted there has been a change in design philosophy – more, cheaper, ffbnw platforms designed so as to accept rapidly evolving weapons without needing a refit. I think that’s a concept that came out the Black Swan Sloop work a few years ago. River 2 is not a million miles away from the Black Swan concept – its more survivable but it does go towards the idea of leveraging containerised weapons. T31 is similar – cheap patrol frigate plus Mk41 = a lot of potential capability but you don’t know what you will need so you don’t have… Read more »
HMS massive has been scrambled (sorry Sophie)
I thought the TUS 4110 CL hull sonar sets on the French horizons were just a variation of the Bluemaster UMS 4110 CL sonar on the Italian Horizons, they both have light weight torpedoes so they both need a sensor for that ?
All French first rank frigates carry at least hull sonar … This suggest hull mounted sonar is fit on the French Horizons … Horizon Class – Naval Technology (naval-technology.com)
“Thales Underwater Systems and WASS was awarded the contract to supply the hull-mounted TMS 4110CL sonar which operates at medium frequency in active search and attack mode. TMS 4110CL uses a cylindrical array and advanced processing”.
Plus the ships carry ASW torpedoes.
The budget is what it is. I doubt anyone on the forum thinks it should have ever sunk to the current level. Lobby your MP again, because until the government increases the money, decisions have to be made in the real world where the choice is fewer exquisite vessels or more vessels that are less well equiped from the off. There was an option suggested in 2015 that we should get ten Type 26s and the Navy rejected it in favour of eight T26s and five T31s. A hard choice was made. Perhaps it’s the idea that a “frigate” doesn’t… Read more »
Probl is that T26 is too expensive for what it offers, and i am not even sure the real price is known looking that it took more than 2 decades to see the first hull.
Nail, head. If I recall T26 was originally conceived as the Global Combat Ship – sort of the UK Arleigh Burke? By adding more AA capability the Australian Hunter class seems to be trying to fulfil that aspiration. As things are turning out the RN tradition of horses for courses might have been better. T45 is top drawer AAW and T31 is turning into a capable GP frigate. What with the ice melting and threat from China and Russia maybe what we need in T32 is a dedicated T23 ASW replacement for the North Atlantic. Leave T26 as the CSG… Read more »
Further to D32’s professional input, you may find this a bit educational &/or salutary, from the US perspective – at around 5 minutes in. And these aren’t hostile submarines….
https://youtu.be/5THHY719q64
Hi Gavin, That is very interesting. I have often wondered how escorts manage to keep up with the carrier and detect submarines. Clearly, they can’t. It comes down to two things as far as I can work out. One the speed at which modern subs can move whilst remaining suffiently quiet to avoid detection, even SSK’s can move pretty quick submerged these days, possibly fast enough to engage the escorts in heavy weather. This gives them a far wider range of axis of attack. WW2 uboats had to get in front of all but the slowest convoys in order to… Read more »
Remember that video. The traditional Downunder playing over the sonar must’ve become a right bastard.
There are submarines in Persian Gulf.
Yep and the Gulf for the most part is shallow at around 60m at its deepest. Deeper water is only available around the SOH or past it into the Indian Ocean.
Its not an exaggeration to say that you can look down from helos/aircraft and see the bottom and anything under the surface with some polarised lenses and a bit of EO trickery.
To tell the true i am more afraid of torpedos launchers put on seabed and coast.
Welcome to Catch-22 (a decent novel and subsequent movie), an operational philosophy first ascribed to the US military. 🤔😉😁
LPD, Carriers, Bay Class, Tide, Fort boats are all HVUs and dont have active/passive sonars. They do however have torpedo decoy systems. You don’t need to be an ASW frigate to have it fitted.
In fairness there are plenty of surface and air launched torpedoes too.
Please help, £886k? For 3? My reading is that this is just the installation kit, not all of the expensive gubbins. Isn’t that the meaning of ‘fit to receive?
Very happy to be corrected/informed.
Cheers
FTR Kit. Foundation for the winch welded onto the quarterdeck. Cables run from the quarter deck to the aft sonar instrument space (SIS). Cables will have a dedicated stowage and protection from damage when the winch isnt fitted. The foundation will have a cover plate. Cables run from the SIS to the Bridge and Ops room. Foundation on the SIS deck and all the cables and power supplies in place to connect the cabinet. When not fitted the cables attach to a special stowage box to protect the plugs at the end of them The cabinet isn’t that big really… Read more »
Cheers GB, as normal a full and concise post.
cheers
Really interesting post. Thanks.
FTR Kits… Kits, anything like Airfix Kits? 🙂
Not sure if the Merlin helicopter pictured on the flight deck of a T31 frigate would be a good ASW asset, it’s a Mk4 junglie!
It’s perfect. A marine jumps out in scuba gear and rips the submarine apart with his hands.
Scuba gear? Wimp!
This is the same kit that all our surface combatants have is it not? It’s the underwater version of chaff/flare and CWIS (though no hard-kill etc.). This is news yes, but unremarkable. The RN would be grossly negligent to not.
Only three? Don’t we need 5? Already have 2? Or recycling 2 from somewhere else? 🤔
First 3 already ordered in 2022
Thanks Paul, I was just wondering if I missed something, and I did! Still one spare, guess for land based training or just spares inventory. Or, an extra T31?
Given the expense you would assume for a potential 6th hull…….but others on here more familiar with RN land based training (including engineering) may know more
Other than just regurgitating some press release from some other article, how about an actual 5 minute use of time to write something useful before you puke it up on the website?… Good lord….
How about u write an article. The site welcomes contributions and will post if good enough and on topic.
Why don’t you go back to reading your MAGA comics instead of puking up that rubbish on this site? No one sent for you.
I don’t often comment and am happy to learn from peoples comments and knowledge which are deeper than mine.
However you are bugging me “SO SHUT UP AND IF U DONT LIKE IT LEAVE THE SITE”
Nobody is forcing you to stay….
Right then… bit of tech background and a dit… The tail consists of a long black armoured cable deployed from a winch on the quarterdeck or winch deck. Attached to the end of it is a passive array section, similar to a towed array and full of hydrophones. After that there is a section that provides decoy outputs of various types and a long thick rope to assist in deployment and towing profile. When deployed the array, like every passive array, is constantly picking up ALL sounds. The electronics in the cabinet filter out the unwanted frequencies and looks for… Read more »
Great story Gunbuster. Cheers. I’d therefore hazard as a summary that by the time the array gets chopped up by, or does detect a submarine it’s pretty much too late and the ship is toast in a war situation.
I’m not a fan of these towed array decoy sets. Would much rather all our expensive, precious few, surface warships and capital ships had an active hard kill system fitted as standard.
We where part of a task group with a couple of T23 and the T boat. There wasn’t a threat and the tail was out for training. When we went into ASW mode for real or for exercisethe T23s, Merlin and T boat cracked on and did their stuff.
I never knew these prop pictures actually happened until I read it on the warzone about a swift sure sneaking through a Soviet task force and taking pictures of Kiev carrier.
Balls of steel those sub guys.
Thanks for the story. Most enjoyable
I believe the RN and USN would routinely access Soviet waters, either cutting Soviet arrays, carrying out SIGINT, or loitering to then follow an outgoing Bomber.
Dont know where you got such far fetched tails from mate, you’ve been watching to many films!! 😱😂😂
😉 Perish(er) the thought. Of course, our SSN all sit in NATO waters chugging up and down the North Sea.
Hi GB, Am assuming that the display(s) can show either TABB or TANB info, or is it just the one type as in TABB? Was also wondering if you have a Ops Rm speaker attached to the system for the good old MK1 ear to listen in on as its essentially an unmanned auto detection system? With it being a TA based system, does it offer up two bearings on initial detection, or do you need to resolve for Brg ambiguity first? Never seen such a system myself being a SM Dabber, so just curious as to how you need… Read more »
Don’t remember a speaker. The electronics do the bearing ambiguity as you are steaming along with it out so it’s constantly calculating. It’s not like doing a TA calculation and then moving to get a cross bearing
Cheers mate.
This system is a soft kill device. Best estimate is that it will decoy 50% of incoming torpedo attacks, although some torpedo experts think the very latest high performance wire guided heavy weight torpedoes won’t be decoyed by this system at all. This is what troubles me when our NATO allies have effective hard kill systems. Like the anti torpedo rocket system fitted to the Italian navy’s FREMM class frigates. Seems like a token gesture (cheapest minimal equipment fit possible) rather than correctly fitting a weapon system that has a higher percentage chance of hard killing an incoming torpedo. Some… Read more »
Have they even considered a hard kill mini anti torpedo like system for the RN?
OK, I am ready for some stick. It is great that the MoD is preping the T31s for the sonar 270, however, even if the ship can hear the torp coming what can it do about it? As far as I am aware this is the passive system (with decoys) and not the hard kill version such as the TRAPR DCL of the US Navy. Also it is all well and good knowing if a torp is coming but would it not be better to know if a sub is in the area to start with. Again I could be… Read more »
It could happen. I think you are right about the number. There were three 2150 sonars already purchased, I thought to facilitate the T23 to T26 swapover, with five of the eight T23 HMSs expected to go to the T26s. However last month the MOD ordered five more! So there are plenty if it’s decided to put them on the Type 31s and still have a few in stock.
I believe there are some spare tails too. The navy has options. I wonder if there are crew in training to match.
Sounds very sensible and if not the T31s then why not in T32s if the later don’t take too long.
If I read this article correctly – happy to be corrected – TRAPR DCL is a detection and location system for incoming torpedos. Because it has an active ‘pinging’ element its detection range is larger so you get more notice of an incoming torpedo. But it does not have an interception capability.
https://www.marinelink.com/news/technology-bonhomme311377
Good, but it still seems daft to me a ship of this size not having a bow sonar.
I would imagine that the medium/ long term plan for ASW on the T31s is for them to deploy a UUV that acts as a sort of autonomous towed array system. Then if a signal needs localising or attacking, heavy lift drones can fly sonobuoys and Stingrays out to the location to do the business?
Lots of comments here possibly suggesting that this is questionable project or last ditch defence
Hi Simon it is a last ditch defence. It’s not questionable it’s sensible to have but it’s most definitely a last ditch defence. The first line of defence, will be the long range detection and intelligence that lets you know a the area the submarine is operating in and long range air ASW, second line would be your organic ASW small ship fight and ship/task group sensors..The whole idea is to not let a submarine get into a position it could launch a torpedo at a ship by making it very hard for the sub to close ( you don’t… Read more »
MOD is not thinking clearly on this one. The cost of giving T31 a sonar vs the cost of a damaged / sunken ship.
I would agree with you.
So my question is why have the RN purchased 6 sets,, five for the type 31s what other vessel is Getting a set ?
Who knows, perhaps one of the T23s in lifex? Maybe its easier to fit new rather than renovate.
Maybe at one of the “Stone Frigates” for training, such as Collingwood? Assuming they use actual kit for instruction and not a simulator or mock up?
These are just 6 fitting kits ( in total ) , not the actual decoy system, just the wiring and fixing points to be fitted into the Type 31 , to receive the decoy system , if/when purchased in the future.
6 fitting kits for FFBNW decoy kits, at this stage, doesn’t make sense unless it’s for a 6th ship. Surely they wouldn’t buy just the fitting kit for a training facility. It doesn’t make sense having a training facility “Fitted For But Not With” a decoy system that they might eventually get – does it ?
This is why the RN needs to really be invested in and rearm and rebuild a capable and powerful fleet. So hull numbers increased, lethality massively increased and the ability to project power via a suitably sized and equipped RFA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0aFqM4ES40 I love listening to Jim- he really has his finger on the pulse and knows exactly the direction of travel with China and President Xi/ CCP. Anything we as an allied nation can do to make China think and to deter and to add to their calculations for a future expansionistic war we should be doing with urgency and… Read more »
Sorry will try that link again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0aFqM4ES40
Planning application for the Ramsden Dock Facility at Barrow has been approved this week.
Good. RN needs Aukus subs x12 asap
USS Mesa Grande (US Navy Landing Ship Dock) ariving at HMNB Plymouth last week, plus RFA Tidespring with a new coat of paint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDJ2sd8KKmk
Note the nuclear strike imminent warning siren at 17.45….. At least someone is taking the Russian nuclear threats seriously. The management don’t do that often, it bothers the locals