Submarine Non-Hull Penetrating (Wireless) Hydrophone

Significant SONAR detection performance can be achieved through the development and use of new larger acoustic sensor arrays such as WAA, CAVES, and LVAA. However, installation costs required to support the cabling hull penetrations of these arrays often drives the retrofit solution to be cost prohibitive. Development of a non-hull penetrating hydrophone solution could potentially save significant installation costs. During Phase I, Progeny Systems demonstrated prototype technologies for construction of a non-hull penetrating sensor for submarine use. Our innovative solution represents an application not only for use as a single acoustic sensor but to support a whole sensor array telemetry system or other digital interfaces such as video or commercial ethernet network technologies. We demonstrated an enabling technology that could enable data transmission on the order of 1.5MBit/second through 0.25” and 1.75” steel thicknesses of the HY-80 steel. During Phase II, Progeny Systems intends to further refine our non-hull penetrating hydrophone technology to develop and test a prototype sensor that will enable us to construct a new class of hydrophones for use in both temporary and permanent configuration.