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You don’t need drones. Planes and helicopters already drop sonar buoys for the exact reason you stated. A better solution would be for an escort when they get
by wil421 5y ago
You don’t need drones. Planes and helicopters already drop sonar buoys for the exact reason you stated.
A better solution would be for an escort when they get into crowded lanes. Surface ships can use active sonar to scan for other subs while being some what close to their sub. The only problem is other listeners can pick up on what is reflecting off your active sonar as well. Also the subs try to avoid ever being detected because they can save your signature for comparison later.
- nradov 5y agoIt's not like any navy has spare surface warships with active sonar available to escort submarines through constricted navigational channels. There are also environmental concerns with active sonar due to impacts on marine life, especially cetaceans. During peacetime it's usually only allowed in designated exercise areas.
- wil421 5y agoI have sonar on my kayak. You can certainly use a power that is not going to hurt sea creatures. A lot of Navy ships including submarines have off the shelf sonar as well as military sonar. I’ve seen a pic of a sub with Raymarine radar they use when surfaced in channels. The subs don’t want to use their own military grade stuff because then the enemies have the frequency signature so they use off the shelf for navigating in public areas.
- nradov 5y agoThat's simply not how it works. The active sonar on your kayak has nowhere near enough power or resolution to detect a military submarine at sufficient range for reliable collision avoidance. Due to the inverse square law, active sonars have to put out a huge amount of power to detect submarines at any useful range. This is a proven risk to marine life. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00295/full https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.0029...
- wil421 5y agoThe escort ships would know exactly where the sub they are escorting is. They could easy see the bottom or a massive blob passing underneath (an unknown sub) or even an undersea mountain. You don’t need enough resolution to tell if it’s a sub or even a whale you just need enough to say watch out. My middle of the road Garmin can see 1,100 feet deep in salt and side scan 500 feet in either direction. You can see bottom features and schooling fish. The higher end stuff is so much better.
- nradov 5y agoYou're really missing the point. No navy would ever assign one of their limited number of surface warships to that mission. There aren't enough to go around. And if a ship detects a massive blob passing underneath it's already too late. 1,100 feet isn't nearly enough range for collision avoidance; a ballistic missile submarine can't turn on a dime and a collision risk can come from any direction including astern. None of your suggestions are even remotely practical in the real world. When submarines actually need to be sure of avoiding collisions they just run on the surface and follow the same rules of the road as any other vessel.
- bell-cot 5y agoI suspect that wil421's idea is that the "near-harbor escort" job does not need anything near so grand as a surface warship. A low-end tugboat or similar would more than suffice.
- imwillofficial 5y agoSurface ships often escort subs in dangerous waters. Ref: Dolphin wearing submariner. Edit: Removed extraneous statements.
- imwillofficial 5y agoNo the escort ships do not know exactly where the sub is. On my first submarine duty, we nearly surfaced right in the path of our escort. We had to dive hard to avoid getting run over. “Clearing baffles” is not an exact science.