Environmental Wideband Acoustic Receiver and Source (EWARS)

The U.S. Navy requires a new Environmental Wideband Acoustic Receiver and Source (EWARS) sensor to facilitate the gathering of environmental data from Navy ASW platforms. The newly developed EWARS sensor must be deployable in shallow and deep environments, and be capable of operating over a broad spectrum of frequencies. EWARS also requires calibration accuracy, digital uplink format/precision, and high dynamic range. In Phase II of this SBIR, RDA, Inc. will build a single mid-frequency sonobuoy prototype from this specification as a proof-of-concept, demonstrating its performance by way of in-water testing. RDA, Inc. analyzed a number of candidate sensor configurations, and proposed a configuration that not only meets the requirements of the SBIR solicitation, but also proves feasible both in cost and packaging..To maximize economy and to minimize risk, the RDA, Inc. prototype leverages heavily on existing technology readily available or currently being developed for use in other U.S. Navy sensors. The Phase II plan is to design, develop, integrate, and test a prototype EWARS sonobuoy that meets most of the requirements specified in Phase I, with a forward plan to accommodate all requirements once the proof-of-concept is complete.