Raytheon DeepSiren Closes Submarine Comms Gap At Arctic Exercise

During a U.S. Navy exercise, Raytheon's DeepSiren underwater acoustic communication system bridged a capability gap for submarines operating beneath the Arctic ice by providing on-demand tactical mission and emergency response information.

The system was successfully operated during the Navy's ICEX 2011 exercise conducted by the Arctic Submarine Laboratory far north of the Arctic Circle.

"Raytheon DeepSiren enables operational commanders anywhere in the world to quickly send tactical messages to a submarine operating at speed and depth - even under Arctic ice," said Steve Moynahan, senior engineer, Raytheon Network Centric Systems (NCS), who deployed with DeepSiren to support the exercise.

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Home in Triumph – submariners mark successful Libyan mission

THE Jolly Roger – the submariner’s traditional battle ensign – flies HMS Triumph as she returns from helping to neutralise Colonel Gaddafi’s air defences.

Six small tomahawk axes on the flag signal that the hunter-killer took part in half a dozen cruise missile strikes during three separate nights of firings.

Triumph fired the very first shots of Britain’s involvement in the international effort to curb government forces in Libya under UN Security Council Resolution 1973, targeting military objectives far inside Libya.

After the initial launches – around 7pm on Saturday March 19 – the boat subsequently paved the way for a successful RAF bombing raid on an underground ammunition dump at Sebha, 300 miles inside Libya.

Tomahawks fired by Triumph – and other Allied forces – eliminated air defences at Sabha (the local air base is home to two squadrons of MiG-25 fighters) allowed a deep strike by RAF Tornados and other coalition bombers which pulverised the site.

US Navy awards $5.4 mln contract to Lockheed Martin

MARION (BNS): Lockheed Martin will design and deliver a second-generation anti-submarine training target under a $5.4 million contract from the US Navy.

The targets, known as MK39 Expendable Mobile Anti-submarine Warfare Training Targets, or EMATTs, are used by air and surface crews for unrestricted, open-ocean and on-range anti-submarine warfare training. Designed to simulate the movements and sounds of diesel submarines, EMATTs help crews maintain their critical anti-submarine combat skills.

IMT providing submarine torpedo support

The Institute for Maritime Technology (IMT), part of the Armscor Defence Institutes, has been awarded a R3 million contract to provide undisclosed submarine underwater torpedo support services to the South African Navy.

The IMT is located just south of Simon's Town harbour, the country's main naval base. The work was awarded last week and appears to be the second such contract in six month. A R307 955.83 deal was announced in late September last year. 

The AEG SUT 264 heavyweight torpedo is the main weapon of the Manthatisi-class diesel-electric submarine fleet of the SA Navy. 

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Navy to axe 'Fukushima type' nuclear reactors from submarines

The Royal Navy is to drop a dangerous type of reactor used in its existing nuclear submarines because it fails to meet modern safety standards, defence ministers have disclosed.

A safer type of reactor is expected to be used in the submarines that will replace the Trident fleet, as the existing design shares very similar features to the nuclear reactors involved in the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan.

DCNS completes first hull section of Duguay-Trouin nuke-sub

CHERBOURG (BNS): DCNS has completed the production of the first hull section of the Duguay-Trouin, the second in class of the Barracuda type nuclear-powered attack submarine for French Navy.

Under the Barracuda programme, the French defence procurement agency (DGA) has ordered six submarines to DCNS which will be delivered in between 2017 and 2028.

Russia ready to equip Borey class sub with Bulava missiles

A missile production plant in southern Siberia has produced enough Bulava ballistic missiles to complete its tests and arm the first Borey class strategic submarine, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Monday.

"A batch of missiles sufficient to finish the tests and equip one submarine has been produced already. Larger production would cause the missiles to stock up," Ivanov said after a meeting of defense industry officials in the southern Siberian republic of Udmurtia.

Navy Announces ICEX 2011 Subs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Commander, Submarine Force (COMSUBFOR) announced the Virginia-class submarine USS New Hampshire (SSN 778) and the Seawolf-class submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) have commenced Ice Exercise 2011 (ICEX-2011) in the Arctic Ocean, March 15. 

USS New Hampshire is home ported in Groton, Conn., and commanded by Cmdr. John McGunnigle, while USS Connecticut is home ported in Bremerton, Wash., and commanded by Cmdr. Michael Varney.

Rescue submarine sent into action

YOU can never have too many photographs of a futuristic-looking rescue submarine being driven into the cargo bay of one of the world’s largest transport aircraft.

This is the NATO Submarine Rescue System being inched aboard an RAF C17 Globemaster at Prestwick Airport in Scotland as the Navy’s ultimate ‘emergency service’ is tested.

Over the next week or so, the white submarine will carry out a mock rescue from a stricken boat off Norway to test the ability of the ?47m system – and the men and women behind it – to respond to a crisis anywhere in the world.

Naval base gets sonar upgrade

State-of-the-art system to detect submarines worth $3.8 million

The capital region's military sector received another boost Wednesday with the announcement that a new $3.8-million facility will be built at CFB Esquimalt to maintain the navy's submarine-detecting sonar system.

The facility will replace an aging building where work on the Canadian Towed Array Sonar System -CANTASS -is carried out for use in patrol frigates and DDH-class destroyers.

"Because the facility will be newer and state of the art, there will be other functions they'll be able to do in the facility as well," said Capt. Craig Baines, base commander at CFB Esquimalt. "But the primary function of it will to maintain these towed-array systems."

SA sub exercises with US frigate

The Heroine-class submarine SAS Charlotte Maxeke (S-102) has exercises with the US Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29) off the South African coast. 

The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) says on its website the exercise, last week, was part of a series of joint-training operations between South African and US navies. Commander Matthew Rick, commanding officer of the Stephen W. Groves, told the AFRICOM news service that the exercise allowed his crew to test their ability to deal with real-life situations they might face during their military career.

Submarines could become invisible to sonar

Scientists at the University of Illinois in the United States have developed and successfully demonstrated a sonic cloak that could make submarines completely invisible to sonar.

The team of scientists, led by mechanical science and engineering professor Nicholas Fang, announced earlier this month that they have produced and demonstrated an acoustic cloak that makes underwater objects invisible to sonar and other ultrasound waves, finally proving what has long been speculated.

“We are not talking about science fiction. We are talking about controlling sound waves by bending and twisting them in a designer space,” Fang said in a statement. “This is certainly not some trick Harry Potter is playing with.”

Rather than absorbing sound waves, the new material bends sound waves around the object, making it appear invisible.

The researchers tested their clock by wrapping it around a steel cylinder and submerging it in a water tank with an ultrasound device on one side and a sensor on the other. The cloaked cylinder did not show up on their equipment and proved invisible to a broad range of sound waves.