Compact Variable Depth Sonar (CVDS)

Recent sea tests with a Variable Depth Source (VDS) (e.g. IUSW-21, LBVDS) have demonstrated increased submarine detection capabilities with a broadband active source that provide continuous active acoustic coverage below the layer and along the entire water column. The primary disadvantage of a VDS is the high impact that its launch and recovery system has on ship design. Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC) intends to investigate and evaluated key risk areas including automated launch and recovery and tow body design that leads to a small volume, lightweight system deployable from a small onboard handling system. The system proposed will address source levels greater than 200dB//1 uPa at 1 meter and will span a frequency range of 1-7 kHz. AAC's design will be modular, able to fit inside a 30 foot ISO container (30 x 8 x 8.5 feet) to allow for installation on a variety of smaller future vessels and possibly unmanned vehicles. It will also be able to search the water column rapidly, therefore deployment and retrieval speeds will be a consideration. Advanced Acoustic Concepts (AAC) intends to develop a conceptual design of a compact active variable-depth broadband source and perform static acoustic performance modeling for source level, transmit beam coverage, and transmit energy requirements. AAC also intends to define a concept for the associated handling gear.