Ultra Maritime awarded $89 million contract for surface ship torpedo defense

Ultra Maritime received a CA$89 million contract from Lockheed Martin Canada, Inc. to supply three shipsets of Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) for the River-class destroyer (RCD) program.

SSTD provides a proven world class full 'sense to effect' torpedo defense capability in-service across the globe, relied upon by many navies to keep their ships and crews safe from the torpedo threat. The combination of a single in-line tow and automatic threat alerting provides unparalleled performance within a small ship footprint, maintaining a high probability of detection coupled with low false alarm rate whilst minimizing overall operator workload.

Ultra Maritime has more than 20 years of experience in this domain and is the trusted partner and world leader in providing torpedo defense solutions and countermeasures for both surface ships and submarines. With torpedo defense systems deployed and supported globally, including more than 30,000 expendable countermeasures, Ultra Maritime is uniquely positioned to bring integrated torpedo defense to the world's navies. Integrated torpedo defense greatly enhances the protection of our navies through integrating expendable countermeasures, towed countermeasures and threat detection sensors to provide overall situational awareness and shorten the kill chain against torpedo threats. Ultra Maritime continues to invest to improve this capability and are proud to partner with Lockheed Martin Canada and the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND) to provide SSTD to the Royal Canadian Navy River-class.

“Having previously secured a three shipset production order to supply Hull Mounted Sonars (HMS) for the RCD program, as well as supplying twelve UWSU towed arrays into the Halifax-class, Ultra Maritime is pleased to play a pivotal role in delivering state-of-the-art Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities to the Royal Canadian Navy,” says John Gallagher, Vice President and General Manager of Ultra Maritime Canada. “We are fully committed in our partnership with Lockheed Martin Canada, our Canadian workforce and suppliers. More importantly, we are proud to serve the Royal Canadian Navy and take great pride in providing our life-saving capabilities.”

“This is excellent news for the team as we move into 2025,” says Steve Rogers, Senior Director of RCD Programs at Ultra Maritime. “We're well placed to execute the SSTD program using expertise across our global Ultra Maritime lines of business, led by the team here in Dartmouth.”

The RCD program and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's (ISED) Industrial Technological Benefits (ITB) policy have played a pivotal role for Ultra Maritime to establish an ASW Center of Excellence in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. It is a prime example of fostering economic growth and technological innovation in Canada. Ultra Maritime has made more than $20 million in capital investments that have created more than 150 high-value manufacturing jobs and supported a vast network of suppliers, including numerous small and medium-sized businesses.