force consisting both of nuclear and nonnuclear vessels. This force 
is being modernized and increased in size on an intense scale. Like- 
wise, mainland China has already built several submarines, and even 
small powers such as North Korea and Egypt have conventionally 
powered submarine forces. 
The massive Soviet submarine force threatens our naval forces and 
merchant shipping and its nuclear tipped missiles are capable of strik- 
ing the continental United States. A more modest Chinese submarine 
force may develop in the next few years. To counter the threat from 
the U.S.S.R. the U.S. Navy is now spending and will undoubtedly 
continue to spend several billion dollars annually in operating and de- 
veloping its antisubmarine forces. The effectiveness of these forces is 
limited in part by the incomplete understanding we have of environ- 
mental conditions in which antisubmarine sensors and weapon systems 
are employed. Considering the cost of operating our antisubmarine 
forces, an increase of a few percent in the effectiveness of these forces 
is worth several tens of millions of dollars a year. 
Sensors used for detection, classification, localization, and tracking 
of submarines include active and passive sonar, Magnetic Anomaly 
Detection (MAD) and radar working in a very complex ocean environ- 
ment. Their effectiveness depends heavily on environmental condi- 
tions in which they operate. We hardly have sufficient information 
on these conditions to do estimations and predictions sufficient for 
Navy needs. 
Sonar provides a good example of the problems the environment 
imposes on our ASW forces. Sonar, both active and passive, is now 
and will probably remain the most important sensor for antisubmarine 
warfare. It can be designed to utilize several modes of underwater 
sound propagation. The effectiveness of these modes for any given 
piece of equipment and in any given situation depends critically on 
such detailed characteristics of the immediate ocean environment as 
the speed of sound (index of refraction), variation with depth, and 
absorption and characteristics of the ocean bottom and surface. These 
characteristics vary with locations and with time at any given posi- 
tion. Therefore, detection and classification ranges of a particular 
sonar system may vary tremendously from one time to another and 
from one location to another. These peculiarities must be understood 
and exploited to a great degree if we are to make our ASW forces 
as effective as possible. 
The importance to ASW of a continuing, effective program to study 
and characterize the ocean environment in which its equipment is 
designed to operate cannot be overstated. 
Strategic Forces. Development of long-range ballistic missiles in 
the last decade caused a revolution in the method of waging strategic 
warfare. Starting in late 1953 the United States engaged in an ur- 
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