I
INNOVATION
28 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 www.vanguardcanada.com
UNDERWATER
WAFARE:
Edward Speicher is a former Royal
Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Officer and writes about Canadian defence topics.
Pay to stay current, or get out of the game
I
n the days following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 on March 8 2014, many were surprised at the
degree of difficulty experienced by the search team. Despite
international cooperation and the use of multiple, redun-
dant modern technologies for tracking the vessels that tra-
verse our skies and oceans, little headway was made in locating
any trace of the plane or in determining the cause of the tragedy.
For many the disappearance became a mystery largely because it
went against everything we had been taught to believe about our
increasingly interconnected world. In fact, such events are only
possible in the few regions around the globe where gaps exist in
radar coverage and communications networks. These regions are
shrinking every day. In this day and age, it is becoming increas-
ingly difficult to disappear.
For those whose stock-in-trade is invisibility, this means it is
time to evolve. In fact, this increasing interconnectedness is one
of the factors driving the development of the old cat and mouse
game of Underwater Warfare (UWW). In 1998, before the gov-
ernment of Canada agreed to purchase four Upholder-class sub-
marines from the Royal Navy, it seemed to many observers that
Canada was getting out of that game entirely. Even after the deal
was struck, it was several years and several costly upgrades later
that the first of the newly branded Victoria-class submarines en-
tered active service in 2003. To date, it has not been smooth
An Ocean Networks Canada Observa-
tions Lab. With a range of sophisticated
equipment spread across the Juan de Fuca
on the West Coast, researchers have been
privy to the sounds of covert Canadian
submarines navigating through the area.
Credit: Ocean Networks Canada
