The DMA Nautical Charting Program furnished products in five 

 major categories during FY '73. The first of these categories includes 

 the worldwide standard nautical charting program for which 848 

 items were completed during the fiscal year. The second category, 

 support to Naval Weapons and Warfare Systems, includes supplying 

 special nautical charts for ASW and USW and other fleet programs; 

 762 charts were provided. A total of 93 Loran and OMEGA new or 

 revised charts were furnished under the third program. Electronic 

 Navigation Charts. Further expansion of this program is expected 

 under the existing requirement for global coverage of OMEGA 

 navigation charts to support the anticipated completion of the 

 worldwide OMEGA System in late FY '75. 



The fourth major category consists of Special Charts, including 

 such products as naval operating area charts, pilot charts, and 

 plotting charts. In FY '73, 101 special charts were printed. The fifth 

 and final major category includes all navigational publications and 

 informational services. This program published 661 items in FY '73 

 and included such documents as Loran and OMEGA tables, sailing 

 directions, and catalogs. Radio broadcasts and warning messages to 

 mariners and chart updating information provided by the Notice to 

 Mariners system are examples of the navigational services the 

 DMAHC furnishes to all civilian and military users of the sea. 



DMA, by virtue of its management authority over the MC&G 

 production and distribution assets of all three military services, is 

 initiating the consolidation of MC&G production and dissemination 

 functions to effect major economies in facilities and manpower. This 

 effectiveness and productivity program involved over 200 studies in 

 FY '73, many affecting the Federal Ocean Program, and resulted in 

 several major recommendations for improvements that are being 

 implemented in the current fiscal year. 



DMA is directing substantial R&D programs to improve both 

 hydrographic surveys and production programs. A part of the DMA 

 R&D program is to develop equipment and techniques to update the 

 Navy's data acquisition capabilities and to increase DMA's 

 processing capabilities for nautical chart products. Several systems 

 have been under development for several years. One of these 

 systems will use a wide-swath, deep ocean, depth sounding array 

 that will, with computer assistance, automatically provide in real 

 time, a contour strip chart of a portion of the ocean bottom several 

 miles wide. The contract for this system was let in March 1973. 

 Installation of the equipment on board the test ship, USNS Wyman 

 will occur in late 1974 with testing to be completed in 1975. A system 

 to obtain nearshore bathymetry out to about 300-meters depth is also 

 undergoing development. This system, the Hydrographic Survey 

 and Charting System (HYSURCH) speeds the gathering, correcting, 



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