Page 9: of Marine Technology Magazine (May/Jun 2026)

ligence that informs and shapes operations in an increas- ingly contested underwater battlespace.

Throughout the world, seafaring nations maintain ? eets of research and survey vessels equipped with a wide range of sensors designed to characterize both the water column and the sea? oor. On any given day, dozens of these vessels are dotting the world’s oceans, sampling their chemical compo- sition, measuring their depth, and charting their ? oors and coastlines to ensure the safe navigation of vessels operat-

LEARN MORE ing both on and below the surface. These operations pro- vide an ongoing picture of an environment that is complex, dynamic, and operationally challenging. For scientists, the data are the building blocks of knowledge, offering insights into fragile underwater ecosystems, the effects of climate change, deep ocean circulation, and geological forces. But to those for whom the underwater domain is a battlespace, the data are key to ensuring mission success, and can mean the difference between life and death.

As crewed and uncrewed undersea operations proliferate and their geographic reach expands, a current, accurate pic-

The Most E?cient ture of the operational environment is essential. Yet even as more oceanographic data is being generated than ever before, the ocean depths remain largely opaque, with entire swaths

Fuel is the Drag you of the seabed uncharted. The consequences of incomplete en- vironmental awareness can be severe. In 2021, the USS Con-

Eliminate.

necticut, a U.S. Navy Seawolf-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, struck an uncharted seamount while transiting the

Be proactive and start saving

South China Sea, injuring 11 crew members and causing ex- tensive damage. (Nearly ? ve years later, Connecticut remains with EverClean.

in drydock under repair, with a return to service scheduled for September, 2026.) In 2005, the USS San Francisco struck an unchartered seamount off the coast of Guam, resulting in multiple injuries and one death among the crew.

Beyond navigational safety, environmental data such as bathymetry, seabed composition, currents, salinity, and temperature provide navies with the means to protect their undersea forces, or monitor those of their adversaries. Mod- ern anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is not just a contest of humans, machines, and sensors, but of models, algorithms, and, increasingly, arti? cial intelligence. But no matter how sophisticated the data processing, it is only as effective as the data itself. Sound energy bends, attenuates, and scatters depending on water temperature, salinity, pressure, seabed composition, and topography. Without thorough knowledge of these characteristics, it would be extremely challenging if not impossible to classify or localize acoustic contacts, or to gain operational advantage by exploiting phenomena like temperature gradients to foil active sonar.

U.S. and Western navies rely extensively on dedicated sur- vey ships like the Bowditch as well as ? eets of autonomous systems, ? xed sensing networks, or partnerships with civil- ian institutions to obtain critical environmental intelligence.

Hydrographic survey operations, in particular, can provide both defensive awareness of vulnerabilities, as well as of-

[email protected] www.marinetechnologynews.com

MTR #4 (1-17).indd 9 MTR #4 (1-17).indd 9 5/28/2026 2:28:48 PM5/28/2026 2:28:48 PM