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Actually, they probably don't. The vast majority of the ocean hasn't been mapped with multibeam, civilian or military. Unless it's an area that's of strategic
by jofer 9y ago
Actually, they probably don't.
The vast majority of the ocean hasn't been mapped with multibeam, civilian or military. Unless it's an area that's of strategic interest (i.e. mostly costal areas), it's very unlikely that the military has mapped it in detail.
That having been said, getting the military to declassify more of its magnetic anomaly data for the ocean basins would be immensely helpful for understanding global tectonic evolution. They have mapped it in quite a bit of detail from airborne and marine platforms. However, an accurate and detailed map of magnetic anomalies gives a huge edge in submarine detection, so it's unlikely they'll declassify all of it anytime soon.
- late2part 9y agoMy understanding from some old nukes I know is that the subs are continually remapping the floor as they travel.
- JshWright 9y agoThey certainly collect data they can get passively (like the magnetic anomaly data mentioned above). They almost certainly do not routinely drive around updating sonar maps (as that would completely defeat the purpose of keeping the location of the sub a secret...)
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]