Mystery ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ find identified as sonobuoys
Published 10:58 am Tuesday, February 6, 2024
- Sonobuoys are generally dropped from aircraft that are equipped with a means to launch them and electronic equipment to receive and process data sent by the sonobuoy. Sonobuoys may also be deployed from virtually any sea platform. More recently, sonobuoys were deployed by the Royal Canadian Air Force in the search for the missing Titan submersible, which imploded off the north Atlantic Ocean near the wreckage of the Titantic in June 2023.
LONG BEACH PENINSULA — Two mysterious cylindrical objects that washed ashore in January that were discovered by local beachcombers Jack Day and Kody Martin have been identified as portions of a sonobuoy, used “for detecting underwater sounds and transmitting them by radio,” according to SonoBuoy Tech Systems, the largest sonobuoy producer with more than 16 million produced worldwide.
What is it?
A sonobuoy is a device used to detect and identify objects moving in the water, according to sonobuoytechsystems.com. Information here is from that website.
Typically, a sonobuoy is used to detect submarines by either listening for the sounds produced by propellers and machinery (passive detection) or by bouncing a sonar “ping” off the surface of the submarine (active detection). Multi-static operations utilize separate active source and passive receiver sonobuoys. Multi-static techniques are also used for submarine detection and localization.
Specialized sonobuoys can also detect electric fields and magnetic anomalies, as well as measuring environmental parameters like water temperature versus depth, air temperature, barometric pressure, and wave height.
Sonobuoys are generally dropped from aircraft that are equipped with a means to launch them and electronic equipment to receive and process data sent by the sonobuoy. Sonobuoys may also be deployed from virtually any sea platform.
Military, search-and-rescue
During the Cold War, passive detection in deep water was the strategy of choice to covertly track nuclear submarines around the world. Since former Soviet Union and NATO relations have changed, detection needs have fluctuated. An increase in the number of diesel electric submarines under the flag of third-world nations has led to an increase in the interest in active sonobuoys and shallow water detection techniques.
More recently, sonobuoys were deployed by the Royal Canadian Air Force in the search for the missing Titan submersible, which imploded off the north Atlantic Ocean near the wreckage of the Titantic in June 2023.
