Marine Mammal Mitigation (MMM) Mission Planning Tool

There is a critical need for the US Navy to hone and maintain its ASW skills. Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines particularly pose a particularly difficult challenge. The ability to detect, localize and prosecute these platforms requires a high level of proficiency in the use of active sonar. This proficiency requires extensive training in the use of active sonar. At the same time, our Navy is under tremendous pressure to minimize the impact of active sonar transmissions on marine mammals. There has been a significant amount of negative press in the last few years purportedly linking the use of active sonar to incidents of marine mammal strandings. Although there has been no causal links established, the perception is negative and the Navy has had to take steps to counter the perception. Training opportunities are infrequent and costly. The effectiveness of these opportunities must be maximized. In the recent past, attention has been focused on protection of marine mammals with little regard for the impact on ASW effectiveness. A balance must be restored. Our team will develop a system to effectively protect marine mammals while ensuring that the Navy obtains the maximum benefit from all active sonar training opportunities.