Minehunting sonar delivered to U.S. Navy
NewsJanuary 15, 2020
WASHINGTON. Raytheon Company delivered its 10th AN/AQS-20C minehunting sonar system to the U.S. Navy. The sonar-towed body was officially transferred to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division. According to the company, the system is now fully qualified and moving toward initial operating capability.
The AN/AQS-20C comprises five distinct sonars, including a synthetic aperture sonar that provides high resolution for acoustic identification. The system detects, classifies, localizes, and identifies mines on the seabed, near-bottom moored mines, volume mines, and near-surface mines.
According to the company, the AQS-20C is paired with Raytheon's Barracuda mine neutralizer which enables true sing-pass minehunting. The AQS-20C system is intended to be platform agnostic and can be integrated onto various tow vehicles.