BY JAMES CARELESS

The Global Sonar Centre of Excellence

When it comes to protecting Canada’s interests at sea, Ultra Maritime is a vital supplier to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).

“Ultra Maritime provides mission-critical sonar systems across the RCN fleet,” said Adam Gray, Ultra Maritime Canada’s Chief Engineer of Research and Development. “We are delivering the underwater warfare sonar suite for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), as well as the upgraded Towed Array for the Halifax Class frigates through the Underwater Warfare Suite Upgrade (UWSU) project.In addition, we also produce and maintain the Submarine Towed Array Sonar System (SUBTASS) for the Victoria Class submarines. Ultra Maritime works closely with allied navies worldwide to provide products and solutions that support and sustain operational readiness in the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) space.”

INVESTING IN CANADA

With Ultra Maritime Canada’s main office in Dartmouth, NS, the company is investing heavily in Atlantic Canada to grow a skilled workforce in the Aerospace and Defence sector. Ultra Maritime’s Head Office is based in the United States and has lines of business in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“Ultra Maritime has approximately 2,200 employees worldwide and approximately 350 employees here in Atlantic Canada,” said Wayne Shaddock, Ultra Maritime Canada’s Senior Director of Business Development. “Our expertise lies in engineering and manufacturing excellence for maritime missions around the globe.”

Under the CSC program, Ultra Maritime has been contracted to equip the River Class destroyers with Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS) and Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) subsystems. (More about this below.) To support and enable the success of this project, the company has invested more than $20 million to upgrade the facility in Dartmouth, NS. “We are the towed array centre of excellence for Ultra Maritime worldwide,” said Gray. “Dartmouth is the epicentre of towed array expertise, and it is where we do all of our research and development (R&D), design, manufacturing and repair for these arrays.”

“We’ve updated the facility to include all engineering offices and labs, conference rooms, sonobuoy production areas, acoustic testing infrastructure and the towed array production hall to keep up with demand,” Gray said. “The highlight of the renovation was the expansion of the towed array production facility, where we quadrupled the number of spaces available to build and maintain towed arrays. Through this investment, we have positioned ourselves to simultaneously produce and support multiple towed arrays for the RCN and allied navies around the world.”

“Research and development are critical to Ultra Maritime’s ongoing success,” said Shaddock. “We cannot rest on our reputation, or past success,” he explained. “We continually seek to innovate, expand product lines and deliver integrated solutions to improve situational awareness and increase navies operational effectiveness. Through the collaboration with research facilities, end users and other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), we provide navies with the tools required to effectively build an underwater picture in a complex, dynamic and ever-changing battle space.”

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Ultra Maritime is the CSC project’s Underwater Warfare lead who works closely with its suppliers and prime contractors to ensure an on-time, on-budget delivery. They have been contracted to provide the S2150-C Hull Mounted Sonar (HMS) and variable depth Towed Low-Frequency Active Sonar (TLFAS) systems. These systems will provide the RCN with underwater situational awareness and the ability to protect its ships and crew from submarines and subsurface threats.

According to Ultra Maritime, their HMS is part of the world’s most advanced HMS product family, with operational performance that meets Canada’s stringent technical requirements. The system provides significant design advantages to shipbuilders, along with logistical benefits and cost savings in the maintenance and upgrade through its operational life. The company characterizes its S2150-C HMS system as a prime example of the technology transfer and sovereign capability that the CSC program is building for Canada. This HMS system was initially designed for the UK Type 26 platform on which the CSC is based, making it ideally suited for the River Class destroyers.

Ultra Maritime describes its TLFAS as a world-class towed sonar solution which is optimized for detecting and tracking modern submarines in challenging ocean environments. When delivered, it will revolutionize Canada’s Anti-Submarine Warfare assets, providing the RCN with unprecedented sonar capability. This state-of-the-art system is designed and manufactured by Ultra Maritime in Dartmouth, using company components and those built by other Canadian companies nationwide. As with the HMS, Ultra Maritime’s Canadian operations will support the CSC’s TLFAS systems for its entire life cycle.

SUBMARINES

Ultra Maritime’s extensive work on the CSC program comes at a time when Canada will buy a new generation of submarines. To be specific, “Through the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), Canada will acquire a larger, modernized submarine fleet to enable the Royal Canadian Navy to covertly detect and deter maritime threats, control our maritime approaches, project power and striking capability further from our shores, and project a persistent deterrent on all three coasts,” said a Department of National Defence statement released on July 10, 2024. “The Department of National Defence is meeting with manufacturers and potential partners as part of the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP). A formal Request for Information (RFI) will be posted in fall 2024 to gain further information on the procurement, construction, delivery, and operational capabilities of potential bidders who can build submarines for Canada. This RFI (request for information) will also seek to gain information which will enable establishing a submarine sustainment capability in Canada.”

“It was very encouraging to hear the Government of Canada announce they will procure 12 conventionally powered submarines; this is great news,” Shaddock said. “It’s a strategic asset Canada needs to help protect all three coasts with all the emerging security challenges. The role Ultra Maritime will play, and the level of involvement is yet to be determined. There are many factors at play, and we eagerly await the RFI. There is a lot of speculation; we have heard the submarines will be purchased as a Military Off-the-Shelf (MOTS) product. Understanding what this means for Canadian companies and small/medium enterprises outside of those supply chains, and how long-term In-Service-Support will work, is still to be determined. Regardless of the extent of Ultra Maritime’s participation in this project, this is truly a win for Canada and the RCN.”

This being said, “Ultra Maritime is extremely well positioned to provide products with high Canadian content based on our facilities, expertise and product lines,” said Gray. “We also believe there is a role for Ultra Maritime in the long-term sustainment of Canada’s next generation of submarines, no matter from whom they are purchased.”

HALIFAX-CLASS

Until the River Class destroyers enter service in the 2030s, the RCN’s 12 1990s Halifax Class frigates will remain the fleet’s primary platforms. To ensure their operational effectiveness well into the future, Ultra Maritime was awarded the Underwater Warfare Suite Upgrade (UWSU) sub-contract to upgrade and maintain the towed arrays on these ships in 2018.

As a subcontractor on the USWU project, Ultra Maritime’s Towed Array Sonar, with Inline Horizontal Projector Array technology, is a critical component of this detection and defensive solution. One key differentiator from other Variable Depth Sonar systems is that this system contains both the transmitter and receiving sensors in the same form factor; this means only a single tow is required per ship, rather than the usual dual-tow, to receive the same effect level. This further simplifies the winch & handling system which reduces cost and crewing requirements to deploy, recover and operate the towed array.    

“With our industry partners, we are installing these arrays on all Halifax Class ships,” Shaddock said.” The highly anticipated sea trials are about to commence which brings a new level of operational capability to the RCN.” 

SONOBUOYS

Ultra Maritime Dartmouth facility also produces a sonobuoy product family that can be used on all ASW platforms, including surface ships, fixed-wing, rotary-wing and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To increase efficiency and reduce costs, Ultra Maritime is investing heavily, in Canada, in new product development, facility upgrades and its people. Ultra Maritime takes immense pride in its engineering and manufacturing excellence, providing industry-leading quality, performance and reliability to its customers.

With the sunsetting of the CP-140 and the anticipated delivery of the Boeing P8’s in mid-2026, Ultra Marime is prepared to supply Canada with state-of-the-art sonobuoys for the new platforms, including significant made-in-Canada content. These are the next generation of sonobuoys designed and qualified to the latest U.S. Navy specifications, and represent a leap forward in producibility.

Indeed, today’s Ultra Maritime is a performance-focused, R&D-driven company that has earned its place as a top global ASW products and services company. As such, it is no surprise that Ultra Maritime is the company that the RCN and other navies count on — for the ASW products they need to stay safe in the world’s increasingly dangerous oceans. These days, there is no room for error and precious little response time when hostile underwater threats emerge. That is why Ultra Maritime is a respected and preferred ASW supplier for all naval vessels around the globe.

James Careless is CDR’s Ottawa Bureau Chief