This study has assessed the potential value of applying “through-the-ice” sensing in support of naval Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) and Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations in the Arctic. While ice will be present in the Arctic for the foreseeable future, the downward trend in the extent of sea ice is likely to attract more commercial activity in the Arctic, which infers a need for increased security in the region. Our study shows how environmental change in the Arctic is making the ASW mission more complex, calling for changes in tactics and development of new sensing methods. Data collected in U.S. Navy exercises ICEX and ARCEX have confirmed that through-the-ice sensing is not only effective and practical, but it also offers many advantages to more traditional ASW approaches. Cryophones can provide a rapid-response capability across the basin deployed from aircraft. Because the sensors will always have real-time access to satellite networks, they can share precise-time and location information to enhance performance when deployed as a synchronized sparse array. Through-the-ice sensors can also pass information to and from an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) in near real time, passing navigation data and command and control messages as well as exchange essential environmental and acoustic information collected by UUVs in-situ. Through-the-ice sensing is a force multiplier filling critical capability gaps in support of the Navy’s strategic objectives in the Arctic.

This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrp

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Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)

NPS NRP Executive Summary

N9 - Warfare Systems