EDO wins contract for advanced sonar technology

EDO Corp. won a five-year, $7.7 million contract from the Newport division of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to develop passive-sonar technology on Navy submarines.

The contract includes design, development, and multiyear production of wide-band, multimode and radius-of-curvature sensors with associated electronics and electro-optics. These are components of new hydrophone-array technology being developed to improve detection of threats and counteract increasingly quieter submarines.

The hydrophone-array equipment will be produced at EDO's Electro-Ceramic Products facility in Salt Lake City.

EDO also will develop the digital telemetry units for these external sensors, using fiber-optic technology to bring the sonar signals inboard, providing noise-free data transmission and significantly reducing weight.

EDO of New York was founded in 1925. The company employs 2,800 people and expects 2003 revenue to exceed $460 million.