Piiiing! Piiiing! Do you remember the sound produced by sonar in a submarine? Well, these are the kinds of systems that the Undersea Fight activity Thales [Underwater Systems, UWS] designs, tests, assembles and integrates since 1963 in the Alpes-Maritimes, in Cagnes then in Sophia Antipolis.
Even if “This famous “ping” only exists in war films, corrects François Bugnon, head of global sonar operations for the group. Submarines traditionally avoid making noise, he says with a smile, and are blind in the water. They use passive sonars: these are their eyes and ears.”
This is not the case for surface ships which shout because their role is, among other things, to detect other ships or submarines. They have hull sonars – in the bow bulb – and carry passive, submerged reception antennas. Packed with acoustics, these 2.5 tonnes and 2.4 meters high “fish” can, depending on the conditions, have a range ranging from a few hundred meters to more than a hundred kilometers.
In the air
Sonars are not limited to the marine environment. They are also found in the air “on board helicopters and patrol planes”, confirms François Bugnon. If a frigate detects a signal several tens of kilometers away, it can send a helicopter which will be on site more quickly than it. It will unroll an acoustic antenna at the end of a winch which, once submerged, will make it possible to recover signals and find the target.
In maritime patrol planes, there are acoustic buoys equipped with a small parachute that are thrown into the sea and which deploy to form a detection barrier. Finally, Thales has developed drone systems. Operated remotely, they play a vital role in mine warfare.
1 billion euros
taking orders
“A few are enough to block maritime traffic, calls back the manager. Not only have half of those from the Second World War not been found and today, we are dealing with mines covered with materials which limit their detactibility by absorbing acoustic waves. We must adapt our systems to detect these new threats. Our solution aims to produce mapped imagery of the seabed to recognize mines and neutralize them. This is what we call a system of drone systems and Thales has a considerable lead in this sector: we are the first in the world to have them operational with the French and English Navies.he emphasizes with pride.
Thales’ position as world leader in underwater warfare activities extends to the entire scope of sonar. With two notable successes – tempered sonar [celui à bord des hélicoptères] and the Captas system [Sonars remorqués Actif/Passif à immersion variable, ndlr].
“They are so efficient that the American Navy bought them from us. And when the Americans buy French in the field of Defense, it is because we have technologists that they cannot catch up with in a reasonable time”, he is satisfied. This technological advance explains in particular why Thales, which employs some 800 employees at the Sophia technology park, counts among its clients around sixty foreign navies in addition to the French one.
War in the Deep
“We provide them with systems to detect submarines and other anti-submarine warfare systems which are either deployed on board aerial platforms. Please note, modulates the person responsible for the sonar activity, we cannot sign a contract without authorization from our supervisory authorities; the market is very regulated and there are certain countries to which we do not sell. We also design products that protect infrastructure such as ports, offshore platforms, submarine cables submerged at more than 6,000 meters. War is also fought in the depths.”
40 year old adventures
The particularity of the group with 77,000 employees spread across 68 countries is to carry out self-financing fundamental research as well as to carry out “research programs funded by our customers. These are contracts lasting around ten years. But, following the design, integration and delivery of the product, we also provide logistical support. Which means that the lifespan of one of our systems delivered to a Navy is thirty years. We are thus starting 40-year adventures. We are equipping 50 conventional and nuclear submarines with our suite of sonars and we will supply the next generation of nuclear launcher submarines of machines in France whose launch is planned in 2038… We have been working on it since 2005!”
It is up to Thales to be very innovative due to competition but also long-term sustainability. This is not to displease his colleagues because “Sonar is an engineer’s paradise, assures François Bugnon. Hydrodynamics, major mechanics, electronics, software development… all professions are focused on this single product.”
Golden ears and virtual reality
To respond to these challenges, the UWS Sophian site has equipped itself with numerous services such as EVA, a training room which allows interaction with its clients’ sonar operators and golden ears – aka war analysts. acoustic. “That is to say, being able to recognize each type of building, engine and propellers which all have their own signatures… But also knowing how to distinguish them from a trawler, a whale or… an iceberg !”explains Hermann Tolu, systems engineer and himself a former golden ear in the French Navy.
VOLTS, for its part, is a virtual reality tool training sailors to deploy at sea and then recover Captas-type sonars. “It’s difficult to drag our clients off the boats, explains Patrick Delarbre, instructor engineer. This solution allows them to carry out all tasks as if they were really at sea but in simpler conditions, without rolling or pitching… or seasickness!” A way to improve the skills of sailors.
Finally, the Simulation and Training department headed by former submariner Eric Ganet and integrated into the customer support service manages tailor-made training for each Navy. “A war game that teaches crew members to give the right information at the right time, using the appropriate vocabulary so that communication passes between submarines, surface ships and planes/helicopters.” “This simulation saves time and therefore money”specifies his collaborator, Marjorie Bihoreau.
If Thales has been inventing the eyes and ears of submarines and surface vessels for sixty years, it also knows that the men on board remain their brains.
Landmarks> Sixty years of existence. Installation in 1963 of Thales Underwater Systems (UWS) in Cagnes before being moved to Sophia Antipolis in 1992.
> International presence. The Thales Group is present in 68 countries and employs 77,000 people, 50% of whom are in France. UWS belongs to Thales DMS which brings together Defense activities and which has 5,000 employees. UWS has three sites in France (Sophia Antipolis, the headquarters where 800 people work; Brest, 400 people, and 100 in Aubagne-Gemenos).
UWS has subsidiaries in Australia, England and the United States.
> €1 billion in order intake. Sonar represents €4 billion per year on the accessible market.
