Raytheon, US Navy To Enhance Minehunting Sonar's Imaging Ability

Raytheon is working with the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division to enhance the features of AN/AQS-20A minehunting sonar.

The team is analysing the system's synthetic aperture sonar to fully optimize its ability to capture and process high- and low-resolution images of mine threats undersea, the company announced Thursday.

"Our goal is to build on the system's proven performance and further the advantage that AN/AQS-20A provides to the Navy to safely detect and effectively identify these undersea threats." said Kevin Peppe, vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' Seapower Capability Systems.

Under a 'work for private party' contract funded by Raytheon, NUWC joins the ongoing initiatives of the AN/AQS-20A team which has been providing these systems to the US Navy for more than 10 years.

The system leverages advanced sonar technologies to support the Navy's critical minehunting missions, ensuring safe access and passage for military and civilian vessels on the world's oceans and waterways.

Enhancements provided by the synthetic aperture sonar include higher-quality imaging of objects found deep undersea to aid in the identification and classification of mines.