Hanwha Ocean succeeds in localizing key submarine acoustic equipment

South Korea's Hanwha Ocean Co. has successfully achieved the localization of key acoustic equipment for submarines.

The company has replaced equipment that was primarily imported from overseas suppliers with domestically produced equipment, thereby improving both price competitiveness and efficiency.

Hanwha Ocean announced on Wednesday that it has localized key acoustic equipment that enhances the operational performance and survivability of submarines. This includes echo sounders, sonar beacons and launchable underwater environmental measuring devices. These three devices are crucial components of the sonar system, which serves as the eyes of the submarine.

The echo sounder emits sound waves to measure the depth of the sea and the submarine's operating depth. The sonar beacon emits sound waves to indicate its own position during distress situations. The launchable underwater environmental measuring device continuously analyzes the marine environment during operations, improving the accuracy of the submarine's sonar system by taking into account factors such as water temperature and currents.

With the localization of the equipment, it is expected that the Batch-II of the Chang Bogo-III class submarines will achieve a localization rate of over 80%. The current Batch-I submarine, "Dosan Ahn Changho," has already achieved a localization rate of 76.2%.

"By localizing the equipment, we can expect cost savings of around 50%," a Hanwha Ocean source said. "Imported equipment required the submarine to be brought ashore for repairs in case of any issues, but domestically produced items allow for underwater operations, making them more efficient."

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com