We are delighted to share this new short chapter, ‘Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology’, exploring emerging technological trends relevant to anti-submarine warfare and the implications for sea-based nuclear forces by Sebastian Brixey-Williams, Co-Director of BASIC. The chapter (pp. 80-83) is published in The Future of the Undersea Deterrent: A Global Survey (2020) by the National Security College of the Australian National University.
The piece draws together open-source evidence around developments in five key areas:
- The proliferation of sensor platforms
- Advances in signal processing
- The growing ease of persistent observation
- Refinements in sensor resolution
- Increases in data transmission speed
It concludes:
‘The introduction of autonomous, unmanned platforms mounted with improving and digitally fused sensors, integrated within cooperative systems, will enable wider surveillance of the ocean. One effect may be to elevate the reliability of submarine detection and, in some circumstances, these technologies could prove to be game-changers that tip the balance in the favour of ASW. Nevertheless, because the history of science and technology is littered with unforeseen obstacles and elusive breakthroughs, and because many of these technologies are classified at present, it is difficult to offer any kind of firm timeline for game-changers in ASW.’
Read the chapter here: https://nsc.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/nsc_crawford_anu_edu_au/2020-02/the_future_of_the_undersea_deterrent.pdf#page=92
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Paul Kotara II/Released / Public domain