8 REPORT OF THE UNDERSEAS WARFARE ADVISORY PANEL 



the people drawn to fields easier to dramatize. Few universities, for 

 example, carry on research or instruction in oceanography, while re- 

 search in underwater acoustics is almost the exclusive province of 

 Government laboratories. A bold program of construction of new 

 facilities both for oceanography and acoustics could bring many new 

 scientists into the field. 



Much of the research and development money now available is 

 devoted to small stepwise improvements in existing weapons systems 

 and techniques. Although a certain proportion of the research budget 

 is set aside for longer range "free-wheeling" type research, not enough 

 money is available in any one place at any one time to support really 

 bold and radical proposals requiring extensive new facilities. 



It should be obvious that multiple approaches in research are 

 necessary, and that at this stage more than one approach to the same 

 operational requirement should be explored. Such apparent duplica- 

 tion is not wasted. On the contrary, true waste comes from manu- 

 facturing ineffective weapons, and from rushing prematurely into the 

 production of inadequately engineered and untested equipment. 



While there is reason to feel that research and development money 

 is not now being spent as efficiently as possible, there is overwhelming 

 evidence that the funds available are not adequate to meet the mini- 

 mum needs of the Navy. 



We cite five examples of critically important programs which should 

 be prosucuted more vigorously. 



1. DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS TO UTILIZE UNDERWATER SOUND 



PHENOMENA 



For the detection of submerged submarines, underwater sound 

 seems to be the primary tool. The oceans are more transparent to 

 sound than to any other form of energy ; in fact, sound travels under- 

 water over great distances. Under certain conditions present listen- 

 ing equipment is capable of obtaining a moderately accurate bearing 

 on a fast moving or snorkeling submarine at about 100 miles. But 

 this information by itself may prove to be of little value as a basis 

 for action. This is not only because of the probable ease of jamming 

 the listening devices, and because of their ineffectiveness against 

 slower moving or deeper running submarmes, but also because of the 

 difficulties of localizing and tracking detected objects, and monitoring 

 and coordinating attack units. 



Active sonar techniques operating at low frequencies oft'er consid- 

 erable theoretical promise, but except for very scattered and incom- 

 plete research information, the possible systems using active low fre- 

 quency echo ranging exist almost entirely on paper, and we cannot 

 even be certain that they oft'er an answer. 



Intensive research in underwater sound is needed both to determine 

 how much further improvement is possible in passive listening, and to 

 determine the potentialities and requirements for active systems. 

 Such research will require large hydrophone installations with associ- 

 ated shore-based equipment, and will also require research ships with 

 expensive acoustic installations and submarine targets available on a 

 continuous basis. The funds presently available for this type of work 

 alone could easily be more than doubled, including investment for new 

 experimental installations, without duplication or waste. 



