Crane, Ind., 9 March 2007. Engineers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division in Crane, Ind., installed portable temperature and humidity data loggers in sonobuoy storage areas on the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) and the USS Normandy (CG-60), as part of the Navy's Sonobuoy Environmental Parameters study.
Sonobuoys are sophisticated air-deployed electro-mechanical sensors dropped in the ocean to detect, localize, and track submerged submarines. Failure data collected that has been collected over the past 10 years indicates that some sonobuoy failures are likely caused by storage outside of parameters dictated by the specification.
"The study will provide data that will improve the sonobuoy performance specification and result in more reliable sonobuoys," says Charles Kimble, sonobuoy project manager for NSWC Crane.
NSWC Crane will analyze the environmental data gathered over the next year with the data loggers and used the information to determine if modifications are needed to existing performance specifications for enhancing sonobuoy reliability.
The study is expected to increase the number of sonobuoys available for Fleet antisubmarine warfare operations worldwide.
Four more Navy ships and more than 25 shore-based sites worldwide are slated to receive the improved data loggers.
