A Multi-line Towed Array as a Bearing Ambiguity Resolution Sensor (BARS)

Under the current U.S. Navy budget constrained environment it is desirable to get added functional performance from existing sonar systems. One such case is the need to provide instantaneous bearing ambiguity resolution for threat torpedoes at tactically significant ranges via U.S. Navy Surface Ship towed arrays. A multi-line towed array sonar system is recommended as a Bearing Ambiguity Resolution Sensor (BARS). The proposed system employs existing towed array technology and system components to provide a towed array sonar system with capabilities including: left/right discrimination at the beam level to instantly localize detected targets, high array gain to operate in the littoral ambient noise conditions, operation in the same frequency band as hull mounted sonar systems for passive localization, and utilization of an existing towed array handling system. The array system design will rely heavily on NDI and COTS components resulting in a low risk development program. Phase II will then develop an Advance Development Module (ADM) system with the lowest possible cost for full scale, at-sea performance demonstration and verification.