TheHistoryofSonobuoys

Thetermsonobuoyisacontractionofthewordssonarandbuoy. DuringthewaningdaysofWorldWar
One, the British Admiralty invented an effective Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) system for its
warships to detect subsurface obstacles. However, it wasnt until the Second World War that the
ravagingwolfpacksofGermanUBoatsconvincedthealliesthataremotedevicewasneededtodetect
the submarines as they approached from astern. The proposed solution was to drop buoys equipped
with hydrophones from convoy ships. These special "radio sonobuoys" fitted with HF transmitters
operatedononeofsixfrequenciestorelaydetectionofasubmarinetotheconvoy,alertingthemofan
imminentattack.

AsaresultofthejointwareffortbetweentheUKandUSA,earlysonobuoydevelopmentactivitiestook
placeat the WarResearchLaboratoryofColumbiaUniversity,theSonarResearchUnitof Portlandand
theRoyalAircraftEstablishmentatFarnborough.ByMarch1942,airbornetestsusingBlimpK5andthe
USNavysubmarineS20validatedtheoverallconceptofusingsonobuoysfordetectingsubmarinesand
resulted in the first sonobuoy system becoming operational in early 1943. These early trials
demonstratedanacousticdetectionrangeof3mileswithanRFrangeof5miles.

ThefirstsuccessfullaunchofasonobuoyfromanaircraftwasmadefromaUSArmyB18bomberinJuly
1942. One month later, buoys were dropped against a German Uboat. Early in 1943, the US Navy
deployed the system in B24 Liberator's flying from Argentia, Newfoundland, and from Dunkeswell,
Devon.Nonetheless,itwasaCanadianHudson,operatingoutofIceland,whichlaterthatyearclaimed
thefirstsubmarine'kill'foranaircraftusingsonobuoys.

HudsonAntisubmarinePatrolAircraft

Proving its merit, the US Navy ordered 59,700 CRT1A sonobuoys, which were used in antisubmarine
action around the world during the Second World War. Although somewhat unsophisticated, these B
sized (6.875 x 60) omnidirectional sonobuoys played an essential part in the birth of airborne ASW.
By1950,UltrawasproducingsonobuoysfortheUKMoDusingaMinistryofAviationdesign.TheSSQ
2,anAsize(4.75x36)LowFrequencyAnalysisandRecording(LOFAR)sonobuoy,replacedtheCRT1A
andenteredproductionin1953.TheCRT1AwasfollowedbythedevelopmentoftheCRT4directional
sonobuoyinearly1943,whichwasfinallyacceptedintoinventoryin1955astheSSQ1.

Operationally,thesesonobuoyswerelaidinpatternsoffivebuoysandtheoperatorestimatedthesignal
strength of the target on each of the buoys in contact. The navigator then used concentric circle
overlaysinanattempttolocalizethesubmarineusingrelativesignalstrength.Astechnologywasadded
to the ASW aircraft, the use of Doppler was use to ascertain whether the submarine was travelling
towardsorawayfromaparticularsonobuoyaswellasitsspeedofadvance.Inthelate1950s,Canada,
the UK and the USA entered into a tripartite agreement to standardize the principal features of
sonobuoys. This arrangement was eventually extended to NATO and today the NATO subgroup 41
meetsannuallytodiscussinteroperability.

CRT1ASonobuoy

In 1960, the SSQ28 commenced production and was specifically designed to be deployed from the US
NavysP2VNeptuneaircraft.Withits95footsensordepthandseawaterbatterypower,theSSQ28is
viewed as the first true LOFAR sonobuoy and was able to detect underwater sounds between 10 and
2,500 hertz. In 1961, the production version of the first active sonobuoy, the Bsize SSQ15, entered
operational service. Although weighing more than 60 pounds, the SSQ15 was reliably able to provide
theairborneASWoperatorwithactivedetectionrangesofmorethan2,500yards.Withtheemergence
ofthelarge,fourengineP3OrionASWaircraftin1962,sonobuoysbegantotakeonmoreimportance
astheColdWarsimultaneouslybegantoheatup.Accuratesonarpredictionswererequiredinorderto
tactical employ the new generation of air deployed sonobuoys and, as a consequence, the SSQ36
bathythermograph buoy was developed. With the ability to map sea temperature as a function of
depth, the sound velocity profile could be calculated and detection ranges and probable submarine
operatingdepthsdetermined.

SSQ36Bathybuoy

The SSQ41 LOFAR emerged in the mid 1960s as the standard omni directional (LOFAR) sonobuoy and
wasmanufacturedbyUltra,Magnavox,andSparton.CanadaandtheUKdevelopedtheirownversions
of these sonobuoys (SSQ527 and SSQ906 respectively) and literally millions of these sonobuoys were
manufactured with production ending in the 1980s. Although the LOFAR sonobuoy offered relatively
longrangepassivedetectionofsubmergedsubmarines,localizationandtrackingwasdifficultandhighly
dependent on Doppler analysis. The SQ53 series of Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording
(DIFAR) sonobuoys was developed in order to overcome this issue. The first DIFAR sonobuoy entered
productioninthelate1960sandhasbeenthemainstayofpassiveASWeversince.Thelatestversions
include Canadas SSQ53D(3), the US SSQ53F, and Britains SSQ955. Although serving essentially the
samepurpose,eachoftheseDIFARsonobuoysareuniqueinthewayinwhichtheyfunction.TheSSQ
955isaGsize(4.75x16.5)gravitylaunchbuoythatemploysadigitaluplinktotheaircraft,theSSQ
53FcontainsnotonlyaDIFARsensor,butalsoacalibratedomnisensor,aswellas,anuncalibratedomni
sensornearthesurface.Lastly,theSSQ53D(3)wasdesignedtooffersuperiorperformanceinthelow
frequency regime, where much of a submarines propulsion plant sound is found. Similarly, the range
only SSQ15 active sonobuoy evolved into the SSQ47 and then, ultimately the SSQ62 Directional
Command Active Sonobuoy System (DICASS). The latest variant being the SSQ62E, which offers the
selection of four different acoustic ping frequencies and the ability to command the sonobuoy to
differentoperatingdepthsafterithasbeendeployed.

Today quieter submarines operating in littoral waters have once again tilted the antisubmarine war in
favourofthesubmarine. However,acountervolley,intheformofmultistatics,isbeinglaunchedby
the airborne ASW community. Using highpower, low frequency sources coupled with specially
designedpassivereceivers,themaritimepatrolcommunityhopestorecoupsome,ifnotall,ofthelost
ground. Ultra is deeply involved in all aspects of multistatic development in the UK, Canada, and US
throughtheongoingdevelopmentandmanufactureoftheSSQ926,SSQ565,andSSQ125multistatic
activesourcesandSSQ981,SSQ573,andSSQ101multistaticreceivers.

UltrasPortfolioofSonobuoys