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Anti-Submarine Warfare


The Anti-Submarine Warfare program’s goal is to develop system components, integrated systems, tactical decision aids and training capabilities to improve the Navy’s ability to conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW). ASW operations can be carried out by individual platforms, groups or squadrons of platforms and coordinated theater-level forces. The systems and components we develop are intended to help the warfighter solve difficult problems in anti-submarine surveillance, search, detection, track, and localization for attack. These solutions include systems that can be deployed on or from individual platforms (both crewed and un-crewed), as well as, systems that reside in the environment. The program is organized to provide a maturation bridge to bring new technologies and ideas into ASW acquisition programs at NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NAVWAR and the US Marine Corps. Our projects include:

New Concepts: Demonstration of the feasibility of a new ASW concept and understand the technology risks.

Experimentation and Analysis: Accelerate emerging technologies and concept opportunities outside baseline-funded activities.

Technology Candidates: Preparation of components to form a system that could meet operational requirements.

Future Naval Capabilities: Demonstration of a system, associated training or tactical decision aids in a relevant or operational environment in partnership with OPNAV resource sponsors and acquisition program managers.

Innovative Naval Prototypes: Demonstration to the fleet in a relevant environment of a system, training or tactical decision aids that will significantly address anticipated naval needs.


Research Concentration Areas

Components

  • Sensors that are uniquely suitable for ASW applications and are not being developed on other programs
  • Electrical, power, and mechanical components suitable for use in challenging environments for ASW systems, such as, the deep ocean or in Arctic regions

Systems

  • Sensor systems employed on or towed from surface ships, submarines, or unmanned vehicles
  • Sensors deployed from aircraft, surface ships and submarines as distributed systems
  • Sensors fixed to the ocean floor

Training and Tactical Decision Aids

  • Technology innovations that exploit superior knowledge of the environment
  • Technologies that improve outcomes through better understanding of sensor performance or sensor system limits
  • Technologies that achieve superior speed of decision for computationally challenging models or predictions, or by solving difficult multi-objective optimization problems for ASW sensors and systems

Research Challenges and Opportunities

The ASW Program has ongoing interest in the following technologies. New ideas for solutions in these areas will be considered at any time during the year.

  • New concepts for coherent processing of multiple acoustic sensors and line arrays
  • Acoustic array concepts that exploit detailed knowledge of low and mid-frequency noise propagation
  • Innovations in compact, low-power non-acoustic sensors deployable on unmanned aerial systems
  • Affordable, low-power means of array element location in mid-frequency arrays with very large numbers of elements
  • Compact, high-energy density, safe batteries for unmanned distributed systems
  • Rapid and robust data exfiltration from the deep ocean seabed

How to Submit

For detailed application and submission information for this research topic, please refer to our broad agency announcement (BAA) No. N0001425SB001.

Contracts: All white papers and full proposals for contracts must be submitted through FedConnect; instructions are included in the BAA.

Grants: All white papers for grants must be submitted through FedConnect, and full proposals for grants must be submitted through grants.gov; instructions are included in the BAA.


PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

Name
Mr. Michael G. Vaccaro
Title
Program Officer
Department
Code 321

PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

Name
Dr. Steve Potashnik
Title
Program Officer
Department
Code 321

PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

Name
Dr. Ivan Joel Lopez Alvarado
Title
Program Officer
Department
Code 321