Ocean sensor
specialists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking the defense industry for
revolutionary advances in extremely deep-operating undersea surveillance systems to protect U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and their support vessels from quiet enemy attack submarines.
Fascinating stuff. Read the entire article here:
We do live in interesting times, and it's good to see that someone associated with the Navy is still taking ASW seriously.
AW1 Tim's Blog 
This is good and DARPA heading it up bodes well for getting advanaced techonology into the mix as well. Very good news. Coming out of the S-3 community (as a former AX1) I saw the "re-purpose" of the air vehicle away from ASW and into other useful missions but none as important as ASW. A crying shame.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
I agree, Jimmy, on both counts. WE have some gaps in our coverage and serious issues in our training and they need to be rectified soonest. Our friends in the PLAN are doing their best to leap into th future, and what you and I faced back in the day with the old Soviets may yet reappear with our Asian counterparts.
Forgetting bean-counting problems for a moment, how many reconstitutable S-3 airframes do we have mothballed at DM? And how soon to get operational?Also what lead times to get trained personnel (ground maint and aircrews) backin the saddle?
VX, they put something like 25 in immediate reuse storage (where they go out once a month and turn the engines) in hopes of either a domestic re-use (like the ones NASA use) or FMS. There are about another 100 that would need a heavy re-work to get back into the air. Unfortunately the ASW package was removed a long time ago and we would have to install something in the open racks. The recomendation for FMS was to install something similar to what the SH-60's fly with, it would be immediately avaliable and allows some remote post processing where heavyweight computers could be applied.
I am guessing that to stand up a new squadron with ASW capabilities you are looking at maybe 2-years once a design is decided upon.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
I would concur with the 2-year time frame. The AW's (ASW system operators) would only need to be taught the system they will use. That's likely just a 4-6 week course. You'd also have to qual them on ejection seats, etc.Prolly 2-3 month course for the whole crew training package at a RAG. Big thing is getting the airframes inspected, new gear installed and tested, then out to the fleet for CarQuals and see how it all works.IF, and it's a big IF, you could pull in any former S-3 people, or those still in the fleet with experience on that platform, and made it a major program, you might get it done in 12-18 months. 2 years, though, sounds about right.
SOooo—-The PRC/PLAN is going to stand-by at ease when we call Kings-X for two years, right?
I believe that that's the thinking up in flag country, more or less. Sigh
Hey, those fancy new P-8's will save the day. They did put counter-air defense measures on it right, I mean how easy would it be to take one of them out of the skies way out in the blue water area? Just asking, I am sure they will have all the latest stuff to defeat those peskey SAM thingies!
BT: Jimmy T sends.
We best get cracking, then! I know we can count on the current administration to do what is best for our safety.