Raytheon and NUWC formally launched the AN/AQS-20A collaboration last year, under a 'work for private party' contract funded by Raytheon. Improvements in both system performance and image quality resulted from the strong working partnership of this Rhode Island-based, government-industry team of experts. Tested at sea, the system's optimised sonars captured images of the ocean floor with enough clarity to see the contents of lobster pots.

"Together with NUWC, we've applied our collective expertise to enhance this critical undersea warfare technology – and we've achieved outstanding results," said Paul Ferraro, vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' Seapower Capability Systems. "Building on the system's proven performance, we've increased its ability to go further and see objects more clearly – critical abilities for the Navy's mine warfare mission."

AN/AQS-20A is the only mine-hunting sonar currently in production for the U.S. Navy and the only system certified for deployment from the Navy's Littoral Combat Ships, as the primary sensor for mine countermeasure missions. The system demonstrated solid performance throughout a recent Technical Evaluation, conducted by the Navy, where AN/AQS-20A performed as designed and exceeded reliability and operational availability requirements.