Heavy & light TOW cables

About this product

Heavy and Light Tow Cables for Towed Sonar Systems Electro-Opto Mechanical Tow Cables for Marine Applications Armoured Tow Cables for Underwater Power Signal and Mechanical Connection The cables used are armoured cables, either electro-mechanical or electro-opto mechanical for such applications. The tow cables form the umbilical of any towed system. Anti-submarine warfare operations demand surface ship, submarine or airborne sonars for detection, tracking, localisation, and classification of underwater targets. The deployment and retrieval of an airborne dunking sonar or surface ship towed sonar is carried out through sonar winches and associated underwater cables. The cables used are armoured cables, either electro-mechanical or electro-opto mechanical for such applications. The tow cables form the umbilical of any towed system. APAR has developed and tested electro-opto mechanical tow cables namely Heavy Tow Cable (HTC) and Light Tow Cable (LTC). Application Towed sonar systems require two types of tow cables, namely HTC and LTC, for towing the linear array and an underwater towed body behind the ship. The tow cables used in the marine environment transmit power to the underwater equipment and carry signals for underwater communication. In addition, these cables are capable of withstanding hydrodynamic forces in the ocean environment caused by waves, currents or towing loads. Characteristics These two cables provide the optical, electrical and mechanical connection of the towed body and array with onboard processors. Applicable standards Product range Advantages The HTC is negatively buoyant and plays an important role in keeping the towed body and rest of the array in depth. This cable has two contra-helically wound layers of high strength Nitronic-50 alloy armour. The LTC is a neutrally buoyant cable which ensures sufficient trail or standoff distance of the towed array from the ship to limit the effects of the ship’s self-noise on the array and also helps the array modules to be in the same depth as the towed body.