The Royal Navy has announced it has begun tests of underwater gliders that can rapidly send vital information to provide an edge to its anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations. A Slocum Glider is being rigorously trialed in the North Atlantic off the coast of Scotland during a five-month deployment as part of Project Hecla, which was established to optimize the Royal Navy's ability to collect and exploit hydrographic and oceanographic information.

The unmanned system uses an array of cutting-edge sensors to send near real-time information on temperature, depth, salinity, ocean currents, oxygen levels and turbulence. Those various parameters can impact the efficiency of the sonar and sensors that are use by Royal Navy warships such as the Type 23 frigates and the Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, as well as the Royal Air Force's P-8 Poseidon aircraft, during submarine hunting missions.

The primary advantage of the gliders is the ability to provide this information in a matter of hours as opposed to the normal data collection efforts that can typically take months.

"Ocean environments are changing – what we knew 20 or 30 years ago doesn't apply now in many areas, particularly the North Atlantic which is our backyard for submarine operations and probably one of the most complicated and challenging bodies of ocean," said Captain Pat Mowatt of the Royal Navy. "Salinity, sound velocity and temperature have all changed.  We need to know these accurately as we strive to understand more and more about the undersea environment (battlespace) and how this effects [sic] the performance of ship and submarine sensors so we can achieve an operational advantage."

The Royal Navy's goal is to have a large number of the Slocum Gliders that can be continually deployed in high-threat areas, and provide a clear and constant picture of the potential underwater battlespace so that operational decisions can be made on the very latest information.

The test glider can dive down to 1,000 meters using controlled buoyancy to derive itself to the surface and back under the water. Such abilities could mean that it could stay out for months at a time while still being able to send back data.

Once the data has been received during the tests it will be integrated into ocean forecast models by the Meteorlogicial Office, the UK's national weather service. That data will also be available for use by the Royal Navy at the Joint Operational Meteorology and Oceanography Centre at Northwood. The tests are currently be supported by the National Oceanographic Centre, British Oceanographic Data Centre, and the Scottish Association of Marine Science.

The Royal Navy had previously conducted tests of the Slocum Glider, which is named after Joshua Slocum, the first man to single-handedly sail around the world, from the multi-role survey vessel, HMS Enterprise (H88) last spring.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Reuters.