27 January 2025 , 15:40
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The top secret technology was tested in 2022 and was able to detect an aircraft 10.5 miles away.
Chinese researchers have allegedly developed and tested a new underwater sensor that can detect aircraft from miles away. If reports are true, this new technology could prove to be a valuable asset for the People’s Liberation Army navy, especially its submarine fleet.
According to reports, the new radar consists of a specially designed acoustic sensor array that can be deployed at depths of 3,280 feet (1,000 meters). When tested, these sensors could detect and track incoming aircraft at altitudes of 5,000 meters.
Such technology could help dramatically improve the survivability of submarines when facing anti-submarine aircraft. These aircraft often have cutting-edge sensors to detect submerged submarines, run them down, and eliminate them with torpedoes or depth charges.
Submarine acoustic sensors could help submarines detect incoming threats, perhaps even allowing them to turn the tables and fire sea-to-air missiles to neutralize such threats. However, such technology has long been considered impractical as sound waves tend to reflect off the sea surface with only a tiny fraction penetrating the water column.
Helping submarines fight back
But the problems don’t end there. Even if soundwaves can travel through water, they often become distorted as they pass through layers of water, especially when there are temperature, density, and salinity changes, not to mention ocean currents and eddies.
However, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that Chinese scientists have overcome these challenges after decades of research and development. The new sensor array has proven reliable for detecting low-altitude flying targets when deployed in shallow waters.
Despite this impressive feat, the team found that using this technology, deep water deployment or high-altitude target detecting is still impossible.
Before development, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Acoustics team believed that some of the soundwaves generated by low-flying aircraft would hit the seabed, reflect to the sea surface, and then bounce back again.
This, they believed, could even travel relatively long distances. If these signals could be captured, they could be used to work out the speed and heading of aerial targets. It was a simple idea on paper that proved very challenging to achieve.
More work needs to be done
According to the SCMP, testing of the technology showed that false signals were a common issue, which would dramatically reduce its utility. However, extensive testing and refinement finally paid off in 2022.
This test detected aircraft that came within 10.5 miles (17km) of the deep-sea radar; the detector obtained an estimated target position within seconds, with a margin of error of less than 0.6 miles (1km).
Not unveiled until now, this top-secret technology was finally published in a peer-reviewed paper in the Chinese academic journal Acta Acustica this month. Despite the successes, the team does point out that it has some severe shortfalls, such as its relatively short detection range of less than 12.4 miles (20 km).
The technology is also unable to detect aircraft flying directly overhead. The team is currently working on overcoming these issues, but no up-to-date information was disclosed in the paper.