A new sonar manufacturing facility within Thales Australia's Western Sydney advanced manufacturing complex, opened this week by the Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy, will become a hub for the design, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced undersea acoustic systems.

Thales Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia jointly invested in the multimillion-dollar facility at Rydalmere, which has been built within the wider Thales Australia Acoustics Centre of Excellence and will be a critical piece of the sovereign supply chain for the Thales towed array sonar system onboard the Hunter Class Frigates.

The hall is 100 meters long and is designed to facilitate the end-to-end manufacture of towed array sonar systems that act as the ‘ears’ of submarines, surface ships, and autonomous maritime systems.

For more than three decades, the Rydalmere facility has supported the Royal Australian Navy with world-class sonar technologies that enhance anti-submarine warfare (ASW), maritime surveillance,…