DALO

IT'S ALL ABOUT PRECISION

When the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) needed a sonar suspension for one of their SAR boats in the spring, precision was a decisive factor. In the past, similar suspensions have been made without the assistance of an engineer. However, a requirement to reposition the sonar within one millimeter in relation to the ship and antenna triggered a desire to work more scientifically.

Kirkholm was involved and chose to construct the sonar suspension as a mechanism with only two movements to minimize the possibility of misalignment errors:

1. A hydraulic cylinder which shoots an arm with the sonar over the railing.
2. A combined movement that turns the arm into the water and lowers the sonar down to the desired position.

The idea behind the solution was to make the shortest tolerance chain from the sonar and up to the fixed fixation point on the boat. The fixation point is located on the deck as close to the fender strip as possible.



With this location, all the mechanical parts and their tolerances / precision have no bearing on the repositioning of the sonar. The fixation point is designed as a cross of two v-tracks that have only one possible clamping.

With the help of this solution, Kirkholm has designed a suspension that fully meets the customer's needs. The equipment now contributes to an assessment of whether something similar should be installed permanently on several of the fleet's ships.