UTC Delivers Latest Sonar Dome Window to Navy

UTC Aerospace Systems has delivered its latest sonar dome rubber window produced at its facility in Jacksonville, Fla. to the U.S. Navy, bringing the total to more than 150 delivered.

The company's Engineered Polymer Products (EPP) team has been the exclusive supplier of sonar domes for FFG-7, DDG-51 and CG-47 class ships to the U.S. Navy and allied navies for more than 40 years. A sonar dome is an acoustically transparent housing that surrounds the sonar transducer array, which together form the sonar's sensor system.

The first rubber sonar domes were shipped by C-5A military transport aircraft from EPP's original site in Akron, Ohio to Virginia. From there, they were barged to the different shipyards building the cruisers and destroyers for the U.S. Navy. EPP's present location in Jacksonville is better positioned to serve the Navy. The facility is less than a quarter mile from a quay wall where deep-draft ships can dock and the massive sonar domes can be loaded onto barges for delivery to the shipyards.

"We have a long history of innovation in building quality components that support anti-submarine warfare capabilities for the U.S. Navy's powerful surface fleet," said Marc Duvall, president, Aerostructures. "Our cultural commitment to Continuous Improvement at EPP enables us to focus on delivering optimal value to our customers."

EPP is part of the Aerostructures business of UTC Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp.