PULSE POWER FOR UNDERWATER NEUTRALIZATION

ONE OF THE IMPORTANT NEEDS FOR NAVAL SUBMARINE WARFARE IS THE CAPABILITY TO GENERATE INTENSE ACOUSTIC PULSES IN WATER FOR NEUTRALIZATION OF UNDERWATER DEVICES AND FOR SONAR APPLICATIONS. THIS PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP A NEW HIGH POWER ACOUSTIC SOURCE THAT WILL OPERATE EFFICIENTLY IN SALT WATER AND AT DIFFERENT PULSE LENGTHS TO NEUTRALIZE VARIOUS UNDERWATER DEVICES. THIS SBIR PROPOSED PROGRAM TAKES ADVANTAGE OF SEVERAL RECENT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS IN PULSED POWER AND WATER DISCHARGES. THE SYSTEM INCLUDES THE GENERATION OF HIGH ENERGY SPARKS IN SEA WATER, USING A NEW PROPRIETARY TECHNIQUE INVENTED BY TETRA CORPORATION. THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL ENHANCE SUBSTANTIALLY THE NAVY'S CAPABILITY TO DAMAGE UNDERWATER EQUIPMENT AND WILL ALSO PROVIDE MEANS FOR CONDUCTING LONG RANGE SONAR MAPPING. THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IN PHASE I AND PHASE II IS TO DEVELOP HIGH ENERGY PULSED POWER SOURCES FOR PRODUCING SHOCKWAVES SUFFICIENT TO DAMAGE UNDERWATER EQUIPMENT. THE PHASE I OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE CONCEPT BY CONDUCING SPECIFIC ACOUSTIC EXPERIMENTS IN SALT WATER USING AN EXISTING PULSE POWER TEST FACILITY.