Oc^an Surveys for Defense Systems 



The Naxy's ocean siir\eys are designed to provide oceanographic, hydro- 

 graphic, and acoustical information about ocean areas in which our naval 

 forces operate. They provide environmental data to support current fleet 

 operations as well as the optimum design of future systems. Oceanwide 

 surveys, including both those listed below and those mapping and charting 

 programs listed in chapter IV, provided vast quantities of precise environ- 

 mental data over millions of square miles of ocean during 1969. 



Surveys in support of ASW systems were conducted in the Western Pacific 

 and the Gulf of Mexico, the latter, in part, as the cooperative project with 

 the U.S. Geological Survey referred to earlier. A portion of the survey of 

 the South China Sea also aided the U.N. Economic Commission for Asia 

 and the Far East (ECAFE) in its scientific and economic evaluation of 

 the area. It included the assistance of scientists from several Asian na- 

 tions. Results of the ASW surveys include 125,000 miles of shallow sub- 

 bottom profiling and bathymetry, 76,000 miles of deep seismic profiling, 

 86,000 miles of magnetic field measurement, and 5,000 miles of gravity data. 

 Acoustics information and data on the water mass and bottom sediments 

 were also obtained. 



Surveys to collect data applicable to mine warfare and mine counter- 

 measures were conducted in southeast Asia, the Mediterranean, and off the 

 Pacific coast of the United States. Some of these surveys utilized host- 

 country ships and scientists, with U.S. scientific advisers aboard. Typically, 

 these surveys included extended-period bottom current measurements, bot- 

 tom cores, sub-bottom profiling, and bottom conductivity measurements. 



Science in Support of Defense Systems 



Marine science and technology activities in support of specific weapons 

 systems are directed primarily toward developments in underwater sound 

 to support sonar and surveillance. The primary objective is to enhance the 

 capability of the United States to counter hostile submarine forces, but the 

 knowledge gained also aids in the concealment of U.S. submarines, thus 

 contributing to the effectiveness of the fleet ballistic missile system. A wide 

 variety of projects at Navy, private and industrial laboratories are coordi- 

 nated within this program of investigation. Major recent accomplishments 

 included the following: 



1. Experimental data to provide essential inputs to predictive models of 

 advanced sonar performance were taken in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, 

 in part as a cooperative effort with the Royal Australian Navy. 



2. For the first time, the Navy's two stable ocean platforms, FLIP and 

 SPAR, were operated together in an experiment north of Puerto Rico. 

 They conducted acoustic propagation studies, including surface and bot- 

 tom interactions, absorption and scattering, measurements vital to sonar 

 performance. 



3. Turtle and Sea Cliff, two new 6,500-foot-depth deep submergence ve- 

 hicles similar to Alvin, were launched. Upon completion. Turtle will operate 

 in part at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) 



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