Environmental Wideband Acoustic Receiver and Source (EWARS)

It is the focus of this SBIR topic to investigate the potential of applying the latest state-of-the-art active acoustic sensor technology for use in a wideband acoustic source / receiver sensor system. This system must be capable of characterizing the acoustic ocean environment over a wide frequency band while meeting the severe packaging, weight, and cost constraints imposed by airborne sonobuoy operational missions. The Phase I study resulted in the design of the NAVMAR AAS EWARS sonobuoy"family". NAVMAR AAS concentrated its study effort in the acoustic transducer designs required to meet the multi-frequency performance of the EWARS system, and the need to package the multi-functionality requirements of EWARS in an A-size sonobuoy. The study effort resulted in the design of six sonobuoys covering the nine EWARS frequencies. The Phase II effort is directed toward the most challenging of the six buoys, the low frequency EWARS. It is focused on the Slotted Cylinder Projector (SCP) transducer development, which is the critical technology used to meet required signal levels. Phase II will result in the development of a single EWARS sonobuoy, capable of operating at the two lowest EWARS frequencies.