Airborne Radar Search for Diesel Submarines

摘要

Aircraft search to catch diesel submarines on the sea surface or with masts exposed above the sea surface has been an anti-submarine warfare tactic for more than half a century. However, rather than analysis, operational judgment has been used to guess at good search tactics such as how large an area one aircraft can cover effectively. In this research, a detection rate model is developed to analyze the effectiveness of airborne radar search for a diesel submarine assumed to be intermittently operating with periscopes or masts exposed above the sea surface. The analysis obtains cumulative probability of detection vs. time based on radar manufacturer's performance data, user inputs for aircraft search area size, search speed, and search altitude, and submarine periscope or mast exposure profiles. The model uses actual periscope radar cross section data, or roughly calculates radar cross section given assumptions about exposed periscope height above the sea surface and sea-state conditions. Submarine evasion due to radar counter- detection is also modeled.