SONAR TECHNOLOGY - PAST and CURRENT

The changes in the political climate in recent years have significantly changed the way in which military sonar systems are designed and procured. Prior to 1990, military requirements were a major technology pull for technology developments, with large military research budgets funding semiconductor, system and software research. However, the end of the cold war brought major changes in the perceived threat that Navies needed to counter and, at the same time, the so-called "peace dividend" resulted in major changes in military research funding in many countries. As a result, military systems now rely much more heavily on available commercial technology. In recent years, sonar system design has migrated from custom silicon technology, using "hand crafted" systems and software, to the use of open architecture COTS systems (commercial off the shelf), using third party operating systems and software. This paper briefly reviews the technology deployed in some of the military sonar applications over that period and outlines how current commercial technology realisations differ from those of the previous generation and provide improved system performance, with a reduced cost of ownership.