Maritime Tactical Aids to Navigation: Application and Deployment to Remote Arctic Environments

摘要

This paper describes new technology to enhance overall maritime domain awareness for mission planning and execution by surface vessels, submarines and unmanned surface and undersea vehicles. This concept can be utilized worldwide throughout the water column to augment position accuracy and situational awareness, especially below the waterline, and is valuable in remote littoral regions such as the Arctic where aids to navigation are few and landmarks scarce. Unlike existing navigation models predicated upon physical buoys, radio-based aids to navigation, inertial navigation and satellite-based global positioning, navigation and timing; a ship-centric approach is followed whereby the characteristics of the seabed adjacent to the vessel itself are used to verify position. This approach greatly enhances navigation capability in Global Positioning System degraded, denial of service and spoofing environments. Safety of navigation may be enhanced for surface and subsurface vessels, deep submergence system and special operations resulting in increased ability and effectiveness to respond to threats and accomplish mission objectives.