Non-Explosive Broadband Acoustic Source for Multi-Static Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW)

"The US Navy has developed an important ASW capability usingimpulsive sources to provide broadband spectral illumination forsubmarine detection. Present sonobuoy sources use high explosivesto achieve the required source levels. Explosives present serioussafety hazards and subsequently incur significant operational andmanufacturing costs. Additionally, explosives produce inherentlyshort (<100 micro-second) high intensity pulses, which are notefficient for creating low frequency acoustic energy. AdvancedPower Technologies, Inc. (APTI) proposes to develop a non-explosive source by electrically initiating combustion ofaluminum with water to create a long (milli-seconds) high-energyacoustic pulse. The aluminum/water reaction is highly energetic(15kj/g aluminum) and affords the opportunity to use surroundingseawater as the oxidizer such that the energy output exceedspresent explosive driven buoy systems. APTI has significantexperience combusting aluminum and water and has demonstratedthis combustion technique using solid aluminum wire, water, andbattery to generate presssures in excess of 50 kpsi to acclerateprojectiles.BENEFITS: The immediate benefit of this program is to provide the Navy with a substantially safer and less expensive inventory of anti-submarine warfare sonobuoys. Present systems contain high-explosives that require special handling and careto both manufacture and deploy. The proposed concept will eliminate those explosives