COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — Naval defense manufacturer Ultra Maritime has announced that all five of its newest U.S.-specification sonobuoy variants are now production ready. The company said the milestone completes what it identifies as the world’s first unified suite of next-generation anti-submarine warfare (ASW) acoustic expendables.
The five variants are the AN/SSQ-53H, AN/SSQ-62G, AN/SSQ-101B, AN/SSQ-125B and AN/SSQ-36B, which form the core of the company’s Sea Revealer family. They support underwater surveillance missions ranging from ocean-layer profiling and wide-area acoustic searches to target detection, localization and tracking.
The AN/SSQ-53H DIFAR is a passive sonobuoy that listens for acoustic emissions from nuclear and diesel-electric submarines using omnidirectional sensors and directional hydrophone channels. The AN/SSQ-62G DICASS is an active buoy that can be remotely triggered to transmit sound pulses and measure echoes to determine a contact’s bearing and range.
The AN/SSQ-101B ADAR uses an unfolding horizontal planar hydrophone array as a high-sensitivity receiver for sound reflected from submerged targets. The AN/SSQ-125B MAC is a multistatic active acoustic source that can operate with passive receivers such as the Q-101B and Q-53H to transmit structured sound bursts across patrol areas.
The AN/SSQ-36B AXBT provides environmental data rather than directly tracking targets. Its temperature probe measures the water column down to 800 meters (2,625 feet), generating sound-velocity profiles that help mission systems predict how sonar waves travel through ocean thermal layers.
Production Expansion
Ultra Maritime recently modernized and expanded its manufacturing complex in Columbia City, Indiana, adding higher-rate manufacturing automation and updated production processes. The company now reports producing more than 1,000 sonobuoys per day across facilities in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
The expansion has created hundreds of jobs in Northeast Indiana over the past two years, with additional hiring and facility improvements planned as domestic and international procurement increases. Ultra Maritime’s U.S. supply chain includes suppliers in 24 states, more than 70 percent of which are small businesses.
Ultra Maritime says it is the only defense contractor worldwide producing G-size, half-length sonobuoys, which can allow aircraft and unmanned platforms to increase sonobuoy payload capacity without increasing airframe weight limits. It also says it is the only manufacturer with active production lines in multiple allied countries.
The company supplies sonobuoys for fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, including major ASW platforms such as the Boeing P-8A Poseidon and Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk.
Earlier in 2026, the U.S. Navy awarded Ultra Maritime a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract for low-rate initial production of the AN/SSQ-125B for training, peacetime operations, testing and inventory requirements. The Q-125B incorporates improved signal processing and acoustic performance for demanding ocean conditions.
Ultra Maritime also demonstrated the SSQ-125B and Sea Spear passive sonar system during the U.S. Navy’s 2026 Lanternfish exercise, focusing on the detection and localization of unmanned underwater vehicles.
Headquartered in Braintree, Massachusetts, Ultra Maritime produces active and passive sonobuoys in A-size and G-size configurations and has received U.S. Navy production contracts and delivery orders for systems including the SSQ-53H and SSQ-62G.
The announcement comes amid the company’s broader expansion and follows Lockheed Martin’s proposed $3.45 billion acquisition agreement for Ultra Maritime, announced earlier in summer 2026.
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