30. Rona, Inner Sound. (NG 660 604)

QinetiQ underwater noise range between mainland Scotland and the Isle of Skye, with a terminal complex on the Island of Rona. The range area is approximately 12 km long and 4 km wide with an average depth of 235 m. The Hebridean Islands and the mainland of Scotland shelter the range on three sides, except to the north. This screens the range from distant shipping noise usually found in the open ocean.

The function of the range at Rona is to measure the radiated acoustic signature of surface ships, submarines and underwater vehicles by using 8 noise measurement hydrophones and 9 underwater tracking hydrophones. It is the only range in the UK where submarines may exercise at full speed. Information from tests is cabled back to the terminal complex on Rona where on-shore data recording and analysis equipment allows measurements in the frequency range 1-100 kHz on vehicles travelling at speeds of 0-80 knots.

The Rona range was created in the 1950s, and was considerably extended when the nearby BUTEC facility[24] was established at the end of the 1970s.