To the uninitiated, surveillance under the waves might be imagined as broadly similar to aerial radar, but the reality underwater is vastly different: the physical properties of water mean that there is no analogous system which can easily provide a similar level of detailed coverage.
This article seeks to explain some of those hurdles with the help of CNE 2026’s executive chairman and former Director Develop of the Royal Navy Rear Admiral James Parkin, and MSubs’ U.K. business development director and former Type 23 Commanding Officer Paddy Dowsett.
It examines some of the challenges of using sonar and other acoustic detection systems for underwater sensing, and what this means for core Royal Navy programmes such as Atlantic Bastion and uncrewed underwater vehicles such as XV Excalibur
This article seeks to explain some of those hurdles with the help of CNE 2026’s executive chairman and former Director Develop of the Royal Navy Rear Admiral James Parkin, and MSubs’ U.K. business development director and former Type 23 Commanding Officer Paddy Dowsett.
It examines some of the challenges of using sonar and other acoustic detection systems for underwater sensing, and what this means for core Royal Navy programmes such as Atlantic Bastion and uncrewed underwater vehicles such as XV Excalibur