Compact Towed Sonar Array

A major challenge facing the U.S. Navy's Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission area is the ability to effectively detect, classify, localize and neutralize quiet modern submarines in shallow water. To address this challenge requires deployment of distributed network centric sensor systems that provide the search rate needed to leverage the full complement of US Navy war fighting capability. Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) and Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) outfitted with compact towed array sensors have the potential to deliver the transformational capability needed to meet operational objectives in the littorals. Current towed array sensors, including TB-23, TB-29A, TB-16 and MFTA, provide desired acoustic performance but are not optimal for deployment from an unmanned vehicle. Compatibility with these platforms requires significant reductions in sensor power, diameter, bend radius and production cost. Maintaining performance comparable to existing Navy tactical towed arrays requires reduced susceptibility to mechanical/vibrational noise and incorporation of directional sensors for left-right contact resolution. Development of next generation reliable compact towed arrays that can be stowed and deployed from unmanned vehicles, surface ships and submarines supports the Sea Shield Pillar of Sea Power 21 while achieving substantial fleet life cycle cost savings.