Compact Energy Harvesting Power Supporting an

Modern Air ASW operations are shifting to littoral areas typified by high ambient background levels, high reverberation and multipath, while targets are quieter than ever. One solution to retain the desired acoustic field performance in these challenging scenarios is to increase the sensor spatial density by deploying more sonobuoys. Unfortunately, these extra buoys have historically been used to reseed the field to extend the mission. Since ASW aircraft are limited both in overall numbers and payload, maximizing individual sonobuoy endurance is particularly desirable to extend field life. The current production version of the ADAR sonobuoy (AN/SSQ-101) falls short of the 8 hour endurance metric and operates 4.5 to 6 hours. The opportunity, then, is to extend the life of the ADAR sonobuoy by improving on the existing energy system. This can be accomplished through increased onboard energy storage as well as harvesting energy from the environment as it is available. These improvements must be implemented without affecting the system’s acoustic performance with minimal impact on the existing mechanical configuration of the buoy. SeaLandAire’s approach to address the energy deficit is to implement an ocean wave energy harvesting device in conjunction with an increased-capacity energy storage system.