Environmental Mission Planner - The Total Solution

ASW tactical missions require accurate knowledge of the environment to plan and conduct operations, especially in littoral environments. To meet these requirements, PMA-264's TAMDA team is developing the TAM environmental sensor and accompanying TAMdecision aid. The TAMDA project's goal is to significantly improve effectiveness and efficiency of an aircrew's on-station time in ASW prosecution across a wide-variety of dynamic environments. Specific to this SBIR topic, TAMDA needs optimal bottom-lossinversion techniques, interface and communication solutions to the aircraft tactical avionics or TACCO station, and significant and varied TAM data. Most significantly, TAMDA needs to demonstrate and quantify improvement in target detection and operatorefficiency.This Phase 2 effort proposes technical objectives to address the needs of the SBIR topic. These include: finalization of a Bottom-Loss Study to determine optimal inversion techniques; integration of Environmentally Assisted Processor (EAP) algorithms anddisplays into RDA's Low-Cost Acoustic Processor; development and integration of a communication interface to the P-3's Tactical Computer for the injection of new tactical buoy patterns; and integration of HEP data into the TAM database for further studyand analysis. A number of benefits are anticipated from the work and efforts of this Phase 2 SBIR. First, the Navy will receive a complete L-CAP prototype signal-processing suite enhanced with EAP echo classification signal processing and operatordisplays. The hardware suite will show marked improvement to the detection and classification process beyond that gained from the improved tactical buoy pattern from the TAMDA system. Second, communication will be improved within the airborne tacticaland sensor systems, and between the TSC and the aircraft, by the identification and implementation of an interface to the P-3 Tactical Computer. This interface will facilitate the injection of TAMDA-improved tactical buoy deployment patterns. Finally,the Navy will be provided with a complete TAM database into which HEP data from a variety of sites is integrated. This database will be immensely useful to TAMDA and other Navy personnel in their study of potential Navy ASW environments.