Vanguard Magazine

T INNOVATION I 30 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com such experiment, but dozens more exist and they are joined by others every day. Military intelligence operators in secure facilities are expected to combine the data collected from sensors such as these with that from a range of military and public sources to paint an accurate picture of situational awareness in real time. With this informa- tion being provided back to commanders both ashore and afloat, the possibility of true anti-submarine warfare (AWS) coverage in a naval theatre of operations is becoming a reality. Likewise, miss- ing out on shared intelligence could leave the RCN and the Royal Canadian Air Force mired in the twentieth century despite paying top dollar for twenty-first century equipment. The HMCS Victoria's recent use of the Mk48 heavy weight tor- pedo at the international Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises in 2012 marked a first for its class and was touted as a success by the RCN. However, the cost overruns encountered while modifying the Victoria-class vessels to accommodate the Mk48 illustrate all too well the danger typical of half-measures. Originally intended as a means of cutting costs by avoiding having to purchase the British Spearfish torpedo, the modifications encountered difficulties and ended up costing as much as the new armaments themselves would have, in addition to limiting any future use of other types of weap- onry such as the Harpoon anti-ship missile. There are currently a number of other developments on the UWW front worth watching. Modern maritime patrol aircraft and ASW helicopters are being equipped with more advanced high performance sonobuoys. These buoys can be networked with the sensors on board surface ships, maintaining their use- fulness long after the aircraft that deployed them have left the area. As mentioned, UUVs and UAVs are also becoming more common as part of persistent surveillance and detection grids. Even shore-based facilities, particularly in key chokepoints like the Strait of Juan de Fuca, have a role to play in the growing network of UWW. UWW is, more than anything, a group effort. If the Canadi- an military is to successfully carry out the task of patrolling the world's longest coastline, it will need investment by the Gov- ernment of Canada in all of these technologies. Failing that, the RCAF and RCN must, at minimum, remain interoperable with the equipment used by their American counterparts. The benefits of a growing sensor network cannot be realized without the abil- ity and the permission to tap into that network. Neglecting a key military capability until it is suddenly required can come at enormous cost. The Canadian Armed Forces learned this sometimes harsh lesson with the belated acquisition of the Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank in 2007. The logistical struggle in- volved in reviving and maintaining a timeworn capability can be both complicated and expensive, but so too is scrapping a capa- bility wholesale after spending the money to retrofit it. No one wants to see a repeat of the fate of the HMCS Bonaventure. Once the Halifax-class mid-life retrofit is complete, the frigates will join the RCN's newly upgraded Victoria-class submarines and the RCAF's Aurora and Cyclone fleets as part of a world class UWW package. However, it won't be long before the submarines themselves will need replacement. If we wait until circumstances demand action, history suggests we will be forced to pay double. In the case of the future of underwater warfare, one thing is clear: The old Canadian military pastime of making due with worn technol- ogy will not cut it in an interconnected battlespace. Either we pay the cost of staying current, or we choose to get out of the game. ATLAS ELEKTRONIK's Active Towed Array Sonar (ACTAS) is an example of a current low-frequency ASW sonar sys- tem that operates simultaneously in active and passive modes while providing high-resolution target detection. The detection ranges of ACTAS exceed the weapons range of hostile submarines, thereby denying the enemy an offensive capability. ATLAS recently sold six of these units to the Indian Navy. Credit: ATLAS ELEKTRONIK

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