SBIR-STTR Award

The US Navy has a requirement for a Reliable Acoustic Path A-sized sonobuoy system. The major challenge is to reduce sensor electronic noise to exploit the environment. Additionally, A-size introduces numerous technical challenges for flow and vertical motion induced noise mitigation, for data telemetry, and for packaging. Progeny Systems Corporation teamed with UnderSea Sensor Systems, Inc. proposes to develop an innovative Deep Vector Sensor sonobuoy based on single crystal vector sensor technology. Single crystal sensing elements offers a wide frequency range in a compact size with low power consumption, and our low-noise analog signal conditioning and compensation microcircuitry can meet the noise requirements. Our sonobuoy concept features a decoupled drifting sensor module with passive buoyancy compensation that deploys after descent to near the ocean bottom in up to 6km water; up to a one hour deployment sequence. Precision wound fiber optic cable provides telemetry, with suspension to buffer vertical wave-induced motion. A modified upper electronics assembly serves as communications gateway to the aircraft. Our Phase I effort will design and demonstrate feasibility for the vector sensor, design and model the drifting sensor module, and develop the high level buoy design. Phase I option will fabricate and test the sensor.

Benefit:
This effort will lead to the development of a Reliable Acoustic Path A-size sonobuoy. The primary U.S DoD market segment for our Deep Vector Sensor System is sonobuoy surveillance sensors capable of being deployed and monitored from Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), helicopters, ships, and unmanned aircraft. Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is a mission area that only the Navy can address, and the ASW community has invested significant resources committed to detection, track, localizing, and attacking submarines. Deep Vector Sensor packaged as a short duration sonobuoy system offers a new means exploit submarine passive radiated acoustic energy, and serve as a receiver for active systems, to more effectively conduct the ASW mission. We anticipate that our Deep Vector Sensor System holds potential to augment and in some cases supplant use of ADAR buoys as an operational ASW tool. The sensor payload in the Deep Vector Sensor System has direct application to array systems. An example of a moored vertical line array (VLA) is the Navys planned RAPVLA Array Program. This RAPVLA technology may serve as the basis for future deployable (and likely expendable) sensor systems. We anticipate that our Deep Vector Sensor payload assembly given its small form factor and high performance will be an enabling technology for such deployable sensor systems.

Keywords:
Sonobuoy, Sonobuoy, reliable acoustic path, Deep Ocean, vector sensor

The US Navy requires a Reliable Acoustic Path A-sized sonobuoy system. Major technical challenges include long distance data telemetry from near the deep ocean floor, sensor design to reduce electronic noise to exploit the environment, flow and vertical motion induced noise mitigation, and deployment and packaging given A-size buoy constraints. The Phase I effort demonstrated the practicality of a deep RAP vector sensor. The Phase II effort will focus on the risk of deployment of the vector sensor to deep water and the survivability of the Fiber Optic (FO) communications link to the surface. Progeny Systems Corporation proposes to design, develop and validate by testing all components that make up the Deep Vector Sensor - Deployment Prototype (DVS-DP) which includes all components and technologies that comprise the subsurface data link infrastructure and the deployment release mechanisms, develop instrumentation packages to support test data collection, and conduct tests of individual components and the integrated data link during the deployment cycle. During the Phase II Option Progeny will build the integrated prototype, perform at-sea system level testing, and build test units for the Navy to perform additional deep sea testing.

Benefit:
This effort will lead to the development of a Reliable Acoustic Path A-size sonobuoy. The primary U.S DoD market segment for our Deep Vector Sensor System is sonobuoy surveillance sensors capable of being deployed and monitored from Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), helicopters, ships, and unmanned aircraft. Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) is a mission area that only the Navy can address, and the ASW community has invested significant resources committed to detection, track, localizing, and attacking submarines. Deep Vector Sensor packaged as a short duration sonobuoy system offers a new means exploit submarine passive radiated acoustic energy, and serve as a receiver for active systems, to more effectively conduct the ASW mission. We anticipate that our Deep Vector Sensor System holds potential to augment and in some cases supplant use of ADAR buoys as an operational ASW tool. The sensor payload in the Deep Vector Sensor System has direct application to array systems. An example of a moored vertical line array (VLA) is the Navys planned RAPVLA Array Program. This RAPVLA technology may serve as the basis for future deployable (and likely expendable) sensor systems. We anticipate that our Deep Vector Sensor payload assembly given its small form factor and high performance will be an enabling technology for such deployable sensor systems.

Keywords:
Sonobuoy, vector sensor, reliable acoustic path, Deep Ocean