Marine Science Affairs 



The USNS Silas Bent became fully operational in FY 1967 and was 

 joined by her sister ship, the Elisha Kane^ in FY 1968. In addition to 

 being the first Navy oceanographic survey ships to have highly automated 

 data processing equipment on board, they have greatly improved sensors, 

 winches, and handling gear. 



Marine Science and Teclinology 



Marine science and technology in support of specific weapon systems is 

 budgeted at $37.7 million for FY 1969. Most of this money will support 

 studies of the characteristics and behavior of sound energy in the ocean. 

 The primary objective is to advance the Navy capability to detect, identify, 

 seek, and destroy hostile submarine forces, but the knowledge gained serves 

 the converse purpose of helping to conceal Polaris submarines and, thus, 

 preserving the invulnerability of the Fleet Ballistic Missile System. Certain 

 of these studies can only be carried out satisfactorily in instrumented and 

 controlled open-sea laboratories, such as the recently commissioned Atlantic 

 Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) and the Ocean Engineer- 

 ing Range at San Clemente Island ofT California. 



As part of this program, the Navy has developed the capability for rapid 

 processing, storage, and retrieval of data on ocean conditions for anti- 

 submarine warfare (ASW) applications. These data also have immediate 

 operational applications as a part of the Navy environmental prediction 

 services, described in Chapter VIII. Combining these data with improved 

 mathematical models of the ocean and atmosphere, it is now possible 

 to produce routine analyses and forecasts of important oceanographic param- 

 eters (e.g., ocean temperatures and surface wave conditions), for large 

 ocean areas. It is also possible to provide more detailed spot analyses for 

 special areas upon request from fleet units in the area. Temperature and 

 sound velocity versus depth and geographical location are routinely pre- 

 dicted for the northern hemisphere oceans, and many thousands of special 

 acoustic propagation predictions are provided for ASW purposes. To the 

 extent possible, this information is made available in unclassified form for 

 fisheries, shipping, and other non-defense use. For example, the Departments 

 of the Interior and Navy have executed an exchange agreement to study 

 the use of advanced acoustic technology in the location of marine animals 

 and the prediction of the distribution of marketable fish, as well as acoustic 

 false targets of military importance. 



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