SSP

[FPSchazly]

Originally Posted by blackcan

I just started with DW and i love it so far and i read online as much as possible (also make a good progress even tho it is clunky) but there is one thing i don't understand to interprete.
The SSP display (i use the Los angels class).
I know there is a hydro temprerature... thing and i also kinda know that... slower ssp can't get into Faster ssp?
And i know it should help me to decide how deep i should dive and maybe let my TA hang in a deeper layer.
But how excactly does it work and how does i read the display correctly?
Thanks in advance!

Edit: and i would also like to know if its possible to dertermine the range of a contact by passive sonar only.
I mean i don't understand the full use of TMA not completly. Why can't i use a own Solution out of Course, AOB, Range, Speed? I know it should help me with a Solution if i got a missing variable but when i can get all why do i need it? for submarines?

The manual has info on the SSP (the manual is full of goodies!), so you can check that information out there mainly because I'm not too terribly well versed on the very inner workings of it. The main thing you need to get from SSP is if there is a layer or not. If there is a layer, you can get above or below the layer to avoid a contact below or above the layer, respectively. So, you're going to have a situation where you either have a layer or you don't in this game.

If the line on the SSP goes down one way and then changes direction another way with a horizontal line at that point, you have a layer and its depth is displayed. If it is a straight line with no change in direction that ends abruptly, there is no layer.



It is very much possible to determine the range of a contact passively. And no you don't need TMA if you have all the information. The TMA is to help you get a solution when you don't have all of the information, surface or sub-surface contacts.

1) You can use the WAA RNG on the broadband of the Seawolf to instantly determine a contact's range passively.

2) TMA is how you do it otherwise. In math, you need one equation to solve for one unknown. If you know three things--in this case it would be course, speed, and bearing--then the only unknown is range. The one equation you need to solve that is the TMA plot. If you know three things, only one solution will fit in the TMA plot. You can also "bypass" this one unknown thing to some degree by making several different course changes. This also locks the TMA down to a very few number of solutions. However, that's getting more advanced. The manual also has more info on that, too.