L-3 ELAC Nautik announced today that its mine avoidance sonar was successfully demonstrated as part of the Mine Avoidance Intercept and Analysis (MANTA) system for the WALRUS class submarine of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
The MANTA system was presented to vice admiral Matthieu Borsboom, commander of the Royal Netherlands Navy, and rear admiral Klaas Visser, director of weapon systems at the Dutch Defence Material Organisation (DMO) on Friday 26 August.
The L-3 ELAC Nautik sonar for MANTA is based on the SCOUT system, which features forward-looking mine and obstacle avoidance, as well as bottom and surface mapping. Lieutenant commander Welmer Veenstra, captain of the submarine HNLMS Bruinvis, and lieutenant Lucas Leppink, project officer underwater technology of the Dutch Ministry of Defence, gave a presentation on the results of the Sea Acceptance Test (SAT), the operational use of the system and the project’s overall process. Both rear admiral Visser and vice admiral Borsboom stated that the MANTA system added additional operational capabilities to the submarine.
"This successful demonstration of the system is a significant achievement for us as it shows our capabilities as a general contractor for such a complex project," said Gerald Baden, L-3 ELAC Nautik’s director of marketing and sales. "We are pleased to be involved in such an important project with our customer because it gives us the opportunity to demonstrate new levels of operational performance."