| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| DARPA looks to go deep with ASW sensor network |
| 2010-01-28 |
| The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has disclosed plans for a deep ocean sensor network that could provide a long-range anti-submarine surveillance capability sufficient to protect 'blue water' Carrier Strike Group operations. This new initiative, which envisions a distributed system of sensors and sources on or near the ocean floor, harks back to the SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System) deep-water long-range detection capability deployed by the US Navy during the Cold War. It also signals a revival in interest in blue-water anti-submarine warfare (ASW), an area that has largely taken a back seat in the two decades since the end of the Cold War and the demise of the erstwhile Soviet submarine fleet. SOSUS used chains of bottom-mounted hydrophone arrays, connected by undersea communication cables to facilities on shore, to achieve long-range detections and cue area ASW forces. It is thought that DARPA's latest effort is looking at a deep-water sensor system that would afford a greater level of tactical utility. In a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Deep Sea Operations (DSOP) released on 15 January 2010, DARPA's Strategic Technology Office suggests that as "technology drives peer-nation parity in traditional domains, the deep ocean offers an unused operational space to achieve significant gains in strategic capability". Truly glad to see this. There are far too many submarines in the world for them to be ignored. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #4 "I recall reading articles as far as twenty years ago saying to a satellite oceans are as transparent as air." No. You need VLF or ELF. There are laser experiments too, and of course there are buoys. |
| Posted by: Glush Wittlesbach8127 2010-01-28 15:15 |
| #3 I recall reading articles as far as twenty years ago saying to a satellite oceans are as transparent as air. I can see the hydrophones as an assist only. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-01-28 13:23 |
| #2 ELF is still usable. All other modes are available. Still have HF antennae, but I'm about 23 years out of date. Probably a good number of satellite communications going on. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2010-01-28 12:22 |
| #1 In its time, SOSUS was a military wonder of the world, that kept the Soviet North Sea fleet neutralized to a great extent. A new version will likely be combined with the new world surface ship locator, which is a wonder in its own right. But then there is the problem of how to communicate this information to our submarines. I'm not sure what system is currently used to communicate with our submarines. I gather that ELF is no longer used. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-01-28 12:10 |