Enhancing the performance of HF Mine Avoidance Sonar systems

Mines pose a significant threat to the US Navy operations. The success in detecting and avoiding mines and mine like objects in the coastal waters all around the world will be crucial for the various US Navy missions in this century. The shallow water environment requires a robust detection system that is capable of detecting various moored and buried mines at a distance against a reverberation limited background while maintaining a high rate of accuracy and low rate of false alarms. Since the sensors ultimately limit the performance of a detection system, in this proposal we are proposing improvement of the existing surface ship mounted sensors used for mine detection and avoidance. It has been shown that broadband sensors will be more suitable for mine detection. Investigations will be made on the usability of different sensor designs and simulations will be conducted to characterize the improvements quantitatively. Materials to be used for sensor domes will be investigated experimentally during the option period. By fusing the analytical results of Phase-I and the experimental data collected during the option period, a detailed array design for the improved in-stride mine avoidance sonar will be done in Phase-II along with prototype development and testing.