SBIR-STTR Award

Naval Special Warfare (NSW) teams often use underwater vehicles (UVs) for clandestine transport into highly sensitive littoral areas. The current sonar suites on the existing vehicles do not include a system for detecting and identifying active sonar transmissions, making the vehicle and the SEALs susceptible to detection by active sonar systems on manned and unmanned surface and subsurface surveillance platforms used in these areas. This proposal addresses the requirement for a very wide band Acoustic Intercept Receiver (AIR) for detecting and locating these active sonar systems. Discussions include considerations for the Arrays, Detection Algorithms, Signal Processing, and Electronics. The design proposed is preliminary and requires additional testing and simulation for verification of performance. However, it represents a potential approach that addresses all of the specifications and design considerations discussed below. Ultimately, the system will fit in the confines of existing and future undersea vehicles, minimize the power requirements, and interface with existing vehicle systems such as command, control, and communications. It will provide sufficient source bearing accuracy and emission characteristics to allow identification and classification of the emission as a threat emission so that tactical decisions can be made.

Benefit:
Currently, none of the NSW vehicles carry an Acoustic Intercept Receiver of any type. A SEAL team has no idea if they are being actively prosecuted by an acoustic sensor until it is too late. A high performance AIR system for use on these vehicles presents an invaluable capability. It would provide early indication of counter-detection to the crew of a manned vehicle or the defense system of an unmanned vehicle, allowing rapid escape or detection avoidance before the vehicle and/or team is captured or destroyed, directly improving the probability of mission success. In addition to NSW vehicles, unmanned covert vehicles would also provide an excellent platform for a high performance, compact AIR system. Although not related directly to the loss of life, destruction or capture of these systems presents an extremely high security risk and significant loss of millions of dollars in research, hardware, and intelligence.

Keywords:
vehicle, intercept, special, warfare, Receiver, naval, Acoustic, undersea