Was the towed array really that better? (and more questions)

magicstix · 11-12-22, 06:14 PM

Details are always going to be classified, especially on boats still in service like the LA class.

But what is commonly known is that towed arrays outperform bow arrays in general because of simple physics.

Bow arrays are mounted on the ship and at the front. They have to deal with flow noise and ownship's own acoustics.

Towed arrays are towed a mile behind ownship. They aren't at the "cutting" edge of the flow and they aren't near a super-loud noise source (namely ownship), so they're going to be more sensitive.

The downside is because they're line arrays, they can't tell left from right, and they become unstable when ownship maneuvers, so even though they're more sensitive, they have their limitations.

Long story short: Yes, it's more realistic for towed arrays to do better.

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11-12-22, 06:14 PM	#7
magicstix Captain Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Nuclear submarine under the North Pole Posts: 481 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Details are always going to be classified, especially on boats still in service like the LA class. But what is commonly known is that towed arrays outperform bow arrays in general because of simple physics. Bow arrays are mounted on the ship and at the front. They have to deal with flow noise and ownship's own acoustics. Towed arrays are towed a mile behind ownship. They aren't at the "cutting" edge of the flow and they aren't near a super-loud noise source (namely ownship), so they're going to be more sensitive. The downside is because they're line arrays, they can't tell left from right, and they become unstable when ownship maneuvers, so even though they're more sensitive, they have their limitations. Long story short: Yes, it's more realistic for towed arrays to do better.