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Components for a Deep Drifting Sonobuoy
Navy SBIR FY2014.2
| Sol No.: |
Navy SBIR FY2014.2 |
| Topic No.: |
N142-117 |
| Topic Title: |
Components for a Deep Drifting Sonobuoy |
| Proposal No.: |
N142-117-0716 |
| Firm: |
SeaLandAire Technologies, Inc.
1510 Springport Rd Suite C
Jackson, Michigan 49202-1476 |
| Contact: |
Luke Belfie |
| Phone: |
(517) 784-8340 |
| Web Site: |
www.sealandaire.com |
| Abstract: |
A unique undersea acoustic phenomenon called Reliable Acoustic Path (RAP) offers an opportunity for a paradigm shift in air-ASW CONOPS. In areas where the ocean reaches sufficient depths, the density of the water increases to the point where the speed of sound exceeds that at the surface. An acoustic receiver placed below this critical depth benefits from greatly improved signal to noise ratio. The Next Generation Airborne Passive System FNC, or NGAPS, was born out of this research.
NGAPS will provide the fleet with persistent, broad area surveillance by positioning passive receive arrays at RAP depths. A single P-8 aircraft is capable of deploying an extremely large area field comprised of 25-100 receivers. Recent studies funded by PMA-264 suggest that free drifting RAP-depth buoys can be designed to limit drift speeds so that a field can maintain integrity for weeks at a time. The opportunity, then, is to develop a long life (30-90 days) RAP sonobuoy in an A-size form factor capable of performing in-buoy processing and sending OTH contact reports. This capability will dramatically reduce the cost of conducting long term anti-access, area-denial ASW in deep water, while freeing valuable P-8 flight hours for other missions.
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| Benefits: |
DoD / Other Federal Agencies:
SeaLandAire's knowledge and history of being able to transition sonobuoy technology to prime sonobuoy manufacturers is an important aspect of being able to see this technology transition to the warfighter. Any component or system developed in this program will be evaluated in context of overall feasibility and ease of integrating with production sonobuoy design constraints.
Leveraging SeaLandAire's ongoing experience in transitioning our PHASE technology to ERAPSCO (RIF contract N68335-12-C-0329), we anticipate working with the sonobuoy industry in upgrading the RAP design from TRL 6 upon completion of SBIR funding to a TRL 8. Again, based on our experience, RIF funding seems like an ideal match for this production readiness effort. This would be completed within two years of completing the Phase 2 SBIR contract (TRL 8 or greater by 2020).
Based on existing sonobuoy sales and the relatively low cost for extended anti-access area denial missions, we anticipate the production volume of buoys could quickly exceed 6,000 per year once feasibility is established. The unit price per buoy will likely exceed a Q-125 ($5k-10k) based on the vector sensor array and cutting edge technologies needed to meet the depth and long life goals. Sales could reach $30m-60m / year, while cutting P-8 operational costs significantly.
Naval defense sensor systems such as the RAP sonobuoy are inherently difficult to transition as a complete system to other DoD entities or the commercial world. However, advancements in subsystem capabilities and technologies can be applied in other offshore data acquisition systems or buoys that may be used by other branches of the Navy or NOAA. SeaLandAire has had past contracts with NOAA where we have leveraged other technologies developed by the Navy SBIR program with the most recent being for a contract (WC-133R-13-CN-0086) where SeaLandAire used technology developed under contract N00039-07-C-0003 for SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego using our Autonomous Surface vehicle (ASV) for providing a means of providing environmental data to NOAA for low cost wind energy resource siting evaluation on offshore sites. With concerns over climate change and sea level rise increasing exponentially and budgets dropping, any advancement in low cost technology applicable for long life data acquisition in ocean environments are candidates for commercialization to the environmental community. Lightweight surface communication floats with proven longevity in high sea states will also be directly applicable to drifter buoy technology. Another environmental market area of interest for SeaLandAire is providing long term monitoring of remote ocean areas near marine protected zones. In areas where deep water borders a protected area (e.g. NW Hawaiian Islands, Pheonix Islands Protected Areas, etc.), these buoys could provide valuable insight into traffic patterns or even un-approved recreational or commercial use.
Advancements in lightweight mechanical tethers with high data transfer capabilities can also be applicable in other dynamically deployed conditions in terrestrial, aerial, and oceanic environments. Of particular relevance are bandwidth intensive data, video and voice applications such as airborne imagery, multispectral and hyperspectral imaging, and surveillance and communications disaster recovery through surveillance platforms like balloons, aerostats or blimps. Lightweight rugged tethers are also applicable for use in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for use in towed sensor packages or arrays. The hurdles for these extended applications are almost identical to some of the hurdles being addressed in this RAP sonobuoy application. The most critical being reliable deployment and sustained life in dynamic conditions with minimum cost, weight, and size.
Other applications include communications uplinks for submarines, UUVs, and diver delivery vehicles.
Commercial:
One commercial application might be for oil and gas monitoring buoys, where specific deep water sensors may need to be monitored remotely (submerged oil plumes, for instance). Another would be for setting up a security perimeter around drilling platforms where malicious vessels could be detected at longer distances from the platform, providing valuable time to react and follow safety protocols.
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