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2020-12-13

ULISSES: Leonardo’s Submarine-hunting Acoustic System

ULISSES (Ultra-LIght SonicS Enhanced System) is an integrated acoustic sensor system designed to ‘listen’ for hostile submarines and determine their locations. Its lightweight form factor means it can be fitted to small, light helicopters and even drones for littoral operations in answer to the growing requirement from Armed Forces to conduct Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations in blue and shallow waters.

ULISSES was introduced to the market at Farnborough Air Show in 2018, when Leonardo announced that it had entered partnerships with L3Harris and Ultra Electronics in order to offer a complete ASW acoustic system based on Leonardo’s new lightweight ULISSES processor.

Following development work in 2018/2019, the ULISSES system was successfully demonstrated in a live sea trial in November 2019, proving the benefits of its multistatic capabilities. Today the ULISSES system is fully developed and Leonardo offers an integrated system comprising ULISSES and either a dipping sonar provided by L3Harris or sonobuoys provided by Ultra, or a combination of both.

Uniquely in the market, ULISSES incorporates ‘multistatic’ functionality, where the processor collects and exploits data from up to 64 distributed sensors, which are processed in parallel. It then combines the multiple sources of information to develop an in-depth picture of the under-sea environment, including detailed location data of any potentially threatening vessels.

Other advantages of the ULISSES system include the ability to draw on a range of sensor inputs including GPS-enabled sonobuoys, active and passive sonobuoys and dipping sonar. Designed for ease of use and reduced operator workload, ULISSES can provide automatic tracking and alerts, provide video up to full HD quality via the company’s Wide Band Data Link (WBDL) and can control sonobuoys remotely using CFS (Command Function System) commands.

The successor to Leonardo’s well-regarded OTS-90 acoustic system for Italian and Dutch NH-90 helicopters, ULISSES provides highly-advanced capabilities in an even more lightweight package. Its light weight (< 20 kg including its processor, transmitter, receiver and recorder), makes it suitable for even very small unmanned aircraft and helicopters. ULISSES is also ideal for the retrofit market, where it can be affordably installed in place of an existing sonics system, reducing the overall weight. The system is also suitable for fixed wing aircraft and naval vessels. Having generated significant interest from the market, Leonardo is in talks with a range of potential launch customers.

2019 Sea Trials: Proving Multistatic Capability

Last year’s sea trials proved the benefits of ULISSES multistatic capabilities in a realistic naval environment. They began with Leonardo deploying various types of Ultra Electronics supplied sonobuoys, including some with GPS, from a ship. The ULISSES processor was then used to quickly and accurately locate a number of simulated under-sea targets, automatically marking their coordinates on a map on the operator’s workstation.

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