Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/507045
Unconventional sonar for inaccessible places T Technology www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2015 29 A UAS for ASW and costal defence Compared to towed sonars that are usu- ally a 1,000 meters long and weigh sev- eral tons, the Universal Acoustic Range and Processor (UARP) by Array Systems Computing is hard to miss with its Ether- net cable-look. "But that is precisely the point," says Kris Huber, the North York company's chief technology offi cer. "The UARP is designed to be deployed in areas that were previously inaccessible using traditional towed array technology." From concept development in 2012, the UARP has become a complete man- When Brican Technologies fi rst approach National Defence in 2010, it was with a fairly straightforward pitch: an unmanned aerial platform to help locate unexploded ordnance. Brican felt its TD100 (TD for Technological Demonstrator) could assist in locating the more than 5,000 pounds of unexploded ordnance believed to be scattered throughout the bomb range in portable, low-cost technology to detect surface and subsurface vessels in littoral environments where so-called "blue wa- ter" variable depth sonar (VDS) or towed array sonar are unable to operate. The UARP can be deployed from small ships such as offshore patrol vessels (OPV) or even rigid-hulled infl atable boats, and requires just two to three people to pack, transport and deploy. Ideal for mobile acoustic surveillance, the technology is an obvious fi t for anti- submarine warfare (ASW), especially if installed on an OPV, and would allow a navy to extend its current acoustic detec- tion capabilities. With the rise of coastal diesel-electric and midget submarines now being used to patrol the littorals, the UARP meets a unique need. Convention- al towed sonars usually require depths of more than 100 metres and stream to over 1,000 metres behind a vessel. By com- parison, the UARP "can operate in 10m of water and stream to 50m-80m behind the vessel," Huber says. In shallow, acoustically complex wa- ter, the UARP targets frequencies below 1600Hz and has an array gain of approxi- mately 12dB. Based on modeling estima- tions, and under good conditions, the UARP "can be expected to detect a typi- cal surface vessel on the order of tens of kilometers [away] and a typical submarine a few kilometers [away]," Huber adds. Most important for navies managing cost, the system does not require large and expensive winches to deploy and re- cover, so no intrusive upgrades to the ship or to its operating procedures. lows users to "grow" a conversation or- ganically. What might start as a discussion between one person at an offi ce desk and a colleague on a mobile phone, can easily link in others who might be needed to fi ll in information or provide a decision. Data such as PowerPoint slides, photos, video or spreadsheets can be accessed in real-time and shared with specifi c indi- viduals or the entire group. The type and volume of data can also be scaled up or down depending on the needs of the ses- sion (a user can even gauge facial reactions to information by controlling which per- son to focus on). The data remains on the host system, meaning that while others can make changes, only the person displaying the data can save them. More importantly, the data is not transferred from device to device, limiting the possibility of passing malware. Davison says that while many tend to fo- cus on hard returns on investment such as reduced travel, Magor is discovering that the real value is the ability to "reduce or remove of the latency of decision-making." Whether it is infrastructure operators or emergency management teams or security professionals with distributed command centres, "all quickly see the value it can bring to decision-making in real time." Magor's technology was accepted by the BCIP during the third call for proposals in early 2012 and was subsequently evalu- ated by the RCMP. The UARP can be used in a bottom- mounted confi guration where several sen- sor arrays can be installed, thus providing wider coverage and the ability to triangu- late target positions. The fl exibility of the sonar has garnered Array Systems Computing attention from foreign navies currently investing in their OPV fl eets. "We believe our best chanc- es for success are in the export market," Huber says, acknowledging the company has had detailed discussions with navies in South America and Asia, and in other regions. But he says Canada could also benefi t, especially in the Arctic where more and more international shipping companies are considering the Northwest Passage as a viable route. Coastal and harbor sur- veillance of surface and subsurface vessels with a low-cost, yet reliable turn-key sys- tem would go a long way toward helping Canada assert its sovereignty in this com- plex environment.