VLF Signals of Opportunity as a Covert Alternative Fix Source for Submarines While Submerged

Our proposed research postulates that VLF signals of opportunity (SoOps), both natural and man-made, can be employed by submarines while operating at speed and depth to accurately estimate position and velocity as required by their hosted weapons systems (e.g. Trident II D5 missile). Further, we postulate that the VLF reception equipment already carried on board all US submarines is sufficient to receive these SoOps. Two development gaps must be crossed in order to demonstrate such a capability. First, a VLF SoOp navigation receiver must be installed on the submarine and integrated with the various systems that can take advantage of it. Second, a reference network must be created that characterizes the SoOps and transmits their truth (time and position of SoOp waveform features) to submerged users of the system. The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility that these two gaps can be crossed.