Acoustic Technology for Maritime Surveillance: Insights from Experimental Exercises

There has been a renewed interest in underwater warfare after a period of decreasing interest following the Cold War. Most navies are now concerned about anti-submarine warfare. The threat of unmanned vehicles and the potential use of acoustic surveillance in different scenarios have led to new developments. Acoustic surveillance is an important source of naval intelligence and should be considered one of the primary sources. However, the underwater environment poses challenges due to physical processes that affect the propagation of sound and the acoustic data received. Despite these challenges, acoustic data is valuable for detecting, identifying, and tracking threats. This article explores the implementation of a low-cost passive acoustic barrier for surveillance through a series of tests conducted in a simple and affordable setting. Besides using the standard existing technology, we have also implemented Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), which increases the receiving capability by using Fiber Optical Cable (FOC) to emulate several hydrophones. The preliminary results suggest that a passive acoustic barrier can be implemented easily by fusing data from numerous acoustic sources and that DAS technology offers a substantial advantage. This work is currently under development, and more tests must be conducted to gather additional data and to obtain essential knowledge to support future implementations.