INTERMITTENT CONTACT EVALUATION FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION SYSTEM

TIMELY IDENTIFICATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND TRACK ASSOCIATION OF INFREQUENT ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SONAR DETECTIONS CONTINUE TO IMPACT ON THE ABILITY OF ASW MISSION COMMANDERS TO RAPIDLY CORRELATE AND CONVERT SUCH DETECTIONS INTO POSITIONAL ESTIMATES FOR CONTACTS OF INTEREST. CONTINUSED ADVANCES IN THE REDUCTION OF THREAT TARGET SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS AND IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLOITATION OF THE ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT WILL CONTINUE TO FRUSTRATE COMMANDERS DURING TACTICAL PROSECUTIONS OF SUBSURFACE CONTACTS. TO COUNTER THESE ADVANCES NEW TECHNIQUES AND SYSTEMS FOR CORRELATION OF SPORADIC PASSIVE AND ACTIVE SONAR DETECTIONS MUST BE DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION OF A SPORADIC ACTIVE/PASSIVE SONAR DETECTION, TRACKING, AND CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM. THIS SYSTEM WILL COMBINE MODIFIED APPLICATIONSOF OPERATIONALLY PROVEN PASSIVE SONAR DATA ASSOCIATION TECHNIQUES WITH EXPERT SYSTEM, NEURAL NETWORKS, AND MULTI-HYPOTHESIS TRACKING ALGORITHMS TO PROVIDE ON-SCENE ASW COMMANDERS WITH A RELIABLE MEANS FOR CORRELATING, TRACKING, AND CLASSIFYING INTERMITTENT DETECTIONS OF SUBSURFACE CONTACTS.