The project was approved as a leading key technology task organized by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in 2018, met the integrated technology performance test in September this year.
The “Conformal Array Sonar Technology Development Program for Submarines” task developed a prototype for verifying the signal processing technology of the first prototype and a prototype for verifying the Conformal array sensor and sensor signal network of the second prototype, and verified the technology by linking and integrating the development prototypes of the first and second prototypes.
As a result, when linking the sensor signal network, the amount of acoustic sensor signals between prototypes has increased significantly compared to existing cylindrical array sonar, and various tests were conducted to satisfy the target performance in the technology development process.
Existing cylindrical array sonar requires additional maneuvering to find the exact location of the target and is time consuming. Therefore, new sonar technology were needed to minimize the rear shaded area because rear constraints occurred due to the sensor placement structure.
Through the completion of this task, LIG Nex1 has secured the technology and capabilities to improve the survival of ships as well as to secure tactical advantage through early detection of enemy ships and submarines by developing Low-frequency Wide-band Large-caliber Conformal arrays to develop the next generation submarine.
“Thanks to the full support of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), we were able to successfully complete the task of Conformal array sonar technology for submarines. We expect that the installation of Conformal array sensors on unmanned submarines and next-generation submarines will greatly improve the ability of detection and improve the survival and combat power of our forces.”
Kim Ji-chan, CEO of LIG Nex1 said
The KSS-III Batch-II attack submarine, which is currently under construction, will feature the new conformal array sonar technology.
The area of the Conformal bow sonar applied to KSS-III Batch-II is more than three times wider than the KSS-III Batch-I cylindrical sonar, and the Batch-II’s new technology applied Flank Array Sonar (FAS) has a longer length than the KSS-III Batch-I.
