Navy Orders 20,000 SSQ-125 Sonobuoys

Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 3rd Class Alyssa Kozak, left, Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Austin Phillips, center, and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Siane Nash load sonobuoys onto a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, Dec. 14, 2020. U.S. Navy/ Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Austin Ingram

ARLINTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has ordered 20,000 SSQ-125 sonobuoys for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training and operations.

The Navy has in recent years placed renewed emphasis in ASW and has increased its capabilities and capacity in view of the increased Russian and Chinese submarine activity and capabilities.

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded ERAPSCO — a joint venture of Sparton Corp. and Ultra Electronics — a $71.3 million firm-fixed-price contract modification for a maximum quantity of 20,000 SSQ-125s, according to a March 3 Defense Department contract announcement.

The sonobuoys will be used “in support of annual training, peacetime operations and testing expenditures and maintaining sufficient inventory to support the execution of major combat operations determined by the Naval Munitions Requirements Process for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers,” the announcement said.

The SSQ-125 is used by U.S. Navy P-8A and P-3C aircraft and produces electronic (coherent) pulses of various types and lengths that enable Doppler processing to distinguish moving targets (such as submarines) from stationary features of the environment (such as shipwrecks).

The work on the order is expected to be completed in March 2023.