On real subs there is the ability to calculate propagation loss, bottom bounce and convergence. There is a good picture in Friedman's US Submarines since 1945 that shows a Mk81 display doing exactly this. I do know that desktop computers were carried aboard for this very purpose as well.
In Cold Waters, the values are estimates based on known sonar performance for ownship and estimates of the enemy's equipment performance. I'm pretty sure you could write software in BASIC or assembler to perform this sort of calculation even on very old hardware with kb-range memory.
And DW is not a study simulation - it is a survey sim, albeit a hardcore one. But it's still an entertainment product and as such Sonalysts must have been limited in what they included, so as not to get into trouble with the government. Even DCS A-10 had to leave out a lot of classified stuff from the simulation.
|