Ultra Maritime to supply sonobuoys to Royal Navy under £18 million contract

Ultra Maritime has received an £18 million contract from the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) to supply sonobuoys to the Royal Navy’s Merlin maritime patrol helicopter.

Sonobuoys are vital for the UK’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, providing undersea domain awareness and playing a key role in safeguarding UK waters, the Continuous at Sea Deterrent, and the Carrier Strike Group.

The contract covers sonobuoy engineering, manufacturing, logistics, and support, ensuring that the Royal Navy retains a reliable ASW surveillance capability for detecting, locating, and tracking potential submarine threats.

This award highlights the MoD’s continued confidence in Ultra Maritime to deliver critical ASW technology, the firm noted.

“Ultra Maritime’s support to the Royal Navy’s critical mission is at the heart of our business as the world’s leading provider of sonobuoy and ASW solutions,” said Wayne Clifton, Vice President and General Manager of Ultra Maritime UK.

“This investment by the MoD enables the UK’s armed forces to deal with modern and evolving submarine threats.’

Ultra Maritime is investing in a new facility which will enable the production of sonobuoys to be scaled when required, whilst also allowing for further ASW capabilities to be manufactured and supported.

In addition to the sonobuoy contract, Ultra Maritime is collaborating with the MoD on the development of miniature sonobuoys designed for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This collaboration further demonstrates the company’s ongoing partnership with the MoD for ASW solutions.

The contract is also expected to boost UK infrastructure and create new skilled jobs at Ultra Maritime’s London-based facilities.

Recently, Ultra Maritime signed a production planning contract with Indian Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), to take a concrete step forward in the co-production of the US sonobuoys in India.