QinetiQ to reduce acoustic and electromagnetic signatures of Royal Navy submarines.

UK defense contractor QinetiQ has won a £18.7 million ($22.7m) contract to help reduce the acoustic and electromagnetic signatures of Royal Navy submarines and ships.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Victorious (Picture source: UK MoD)

Each ship or submarine has a unique acoustic and electromagnetic signature – the bigger this signature the easier it is to detect, identify and potentially attack.

Measuring and understanding this signature over the lifetime of a vessel gives navy command and commanding officers the confidence that they are ready to fight and win in combat at sea.

As outlined by the company, the service to be provided span a range of signature detection capabilities including underwater radiated noise; radar cross section; target echo strength; and electromagnetics.

As part of the new contract, all signature information collected will be stored within the navy’s Maritime Knowledge Management (MKM) system, enabling stakeholders to access and use the repository of information as an aid to decision making on the management of individual platform signatures.