- Capability group
- Sensing, Timing & Navigation
- Domain
- Critical Technology · Hard Power
- Identifier
- factbase.org/cap/T1BEM91Z0C
- Reference
- Sonar Wikipedia
Papers
15.9k
2020–2024
Paper growth
+8%
2020–24 on 2015–19
Patent families
16.3k
2020–2024
Filed abroad
27%
families in more than one office
In the framework
What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.
Bounds
Covers acoustic and undersea sensing technology; undersea warfare and surveillance operations belong to National Security's maritime capabilities, and ocean-observing infrastructure to Strategic Infrastructure.
Lineage
Carried from v0.0 (formerly Sonar and acoustic sensors) with the same identifier; rewritten from a definition of sonar to the undersea sensing capacity.
Indicators
- research publication share in acoustic sensingResearch
- sonar systems in productionPending
- seabed sensing arrays deployedPending
Research
Papers classified to the capability, by year and by the nation of their authors' institutions, 2020–2024. Read from the v0.0 research topic Sonar and acoustic sensors.
Papers by year
The five leading nations, papers by year
Share of papers, 2020–2024
Of papers with a known author nation; 24% have none and are left out.
- 1China32.9%4,714 papers
- 2United States18.3%2,632 papers
- 3India4.3%622 papers
- 4United Kingdom4.0%576 papers
- 5Canada3.2%457 papers
- 6Russia3.1%448 papers
- 7France2.9%420 papers
- 8Japan2.6%373 papers
- 9South Korea2.4%342 papers
- 10Germany2.3%336 papers
Leading institutions, 2020–2024
By fractional count: each paper divided among its authors' institutions.
- 1Harbin Engineering University389fractional papers
- 2Northwestern Polytechnical University353fractional papers
- 3Zhejiang University158fractional papers
- 4National University of Defense Technology131fractional papers
- 5Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution123fractional papers
- 6Ocean University of China118fractional papers
- 7Chinese Academy of Sciences117fractional papers
- 8Institute of Acoustics116fractional papers
- 9University of Washington106fractional papers
- 10Hangzhou Institute of Applied Acoustics106fractional papers
Patents
Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.
Families by priority year
The five leading origins, families by year
5,541 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 8% of families (HHI 26 of 10,000: unconcentrated).
Share of families by origin, 2020–2024
- 1China58.5%9,526 families
- 2United States8.6%1,399 families
- 3Japan8.3%1,345 families
- 4South Korea7.7%1,253 families
- 5Germany7.2%1,178 families
- 6France1.7%270 families
- 7Netherlands0.8%136 families
- 8Canada0.8%132 families
- 9Norway0.8%127 families
- 10United Kingdom0.7%117 families
Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024
Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.
- 1BOSCH GMBH ROBERT373international families
- 2KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV267international families
- 3VALEO SCHALTER & SENSOREN GMBH207international families
- 4DENSO CORP167international families
- 5SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD146international families
- 6PGS GEOPHYSICAL AS113international families
- 7HUAWEI TECH CO LTD106international families
- 8FURUNO ELECTRIC CO102international families
- 9MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP102international families
- 10ROBERT BOSCH CO LTD100international families
Classification read
- G01S15/00 Sonar systems · 127.2k documents
- G01S7/52 Sonar components and signal processing · 57.9k documents
- G01S3/80 Acoustic direction finding · 15.2k documents
- G01S5/18 Position fixing by sound · 21.3k documents
- H04R1/44 Hydrophones and underwater transducers · 3.7k documents
- G01H3/00 Measuring vibration with detectors in a fluid · 13.9k documents
- G01V1/38 Marine seismic and acoustic surveying · 33.6k documents
- B63G8/39 Sonar installations on submarines · 1.6k documents
Shares inventions with
Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).
- Radar & Radiofrequency Sensing2,007 families · 0.063
- Advanced Imaging & Photonic Sensing1,794 families · 0.028
- Autonomous Systems & Trusted Autonomy1,113 families · 0.017
- Uncrewed & Collaborative Systems313 families · 0.012
- Resilient & Infrastructure-Independent Networks183 families · 0.010
Companies
50 companies in this capability, across 6 regions. The leading 12:
- 1ThalesWorld's largest naval sonar house, supplying hull, towed-array (CAPTAS), submarine (Sonar 2076) and mine-hunting sonars plus FLASH dipping sonar to dozens of navies.Design
- 2Lockheed MartinPrime for the US Navy AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 surface ASW combat system and submarine acoustic systems, and agreed in July 2026 to buy sonar maker Ultra Maritime for $3.45bn.Integration
- 3RTXRaytheon builds the AN/SQS-53 hull sonar family for US destroyers, the AN/AQS-20 mine-hunting sonar and export hull-mounted sonars.Design
- 4L3Harris TechnologiesL3Harris Ocean Systems makes the AN/AQS-22 airborne low-frequency dipping sonar for MH-60R helicopters and hull, towed and UUV sonars.Design
- 5Ultra MaritimeLeading supplier of US and allied Navy sonobuoys, ship towed arrays and hull sonars; Advent-owned and being acquired by Lockheed Martin (deal announced July 2026, pending).Manufacture
- 6Kongsberg GruppenKongsberg Maritime leads the world in multibeam echosounders, hydroacoustic positioning (HiPAP) and HUGIN AUV sonar payloads, alongside naval ASW sonars.Manufacture
- 7thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (Atlas Elektronik)Through Bremen-based Atlas Elektronik, TKMS supplies integrated submarine sonar suites (CSU-90), ACTAS towed arrays and mine-countermeasure sonars to many navies.Design
- 8General DynamicsGeneral Dynamics Mission Systems develops undersea sensing, acoustic processing and submarine combat/sensor integration, while Electric Boat integrates sonar on US submarines.Integration
- 9Teledyne TechnologiesTeledyne Marine (RESON, BlueView, RD Instruments, Benthos) is a top maker of multibeam sonars, ADCPs, hydrophones and acoustic modems for survey and defence.Manufacture
- 10China State Shipbuilding CorporationState group whose 715th Research Institute (Hangzhou Applied Acoustics) is China's principal developer of naval sonar, towed arrays and sonobuoys for PLA Navy ships and submarines.Research
- 11Northrop GrummanMakes the AN/AQS-24 towed mine-hunting sonar and undersea sensing payloads for US Navy mine countermeasures.Design
- 12SaabSupplies submarine sonar and combat systems, Double Eagle/Sabertooth underwater vehicles and ASW sensor integration for Sweden and export customers.Integration
