Navy asks RDA for software and hardware upgrades to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) test and measurement system
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts needed software and hardware upgrades to ASW acoustic test and measurement system that operates aboard the Navy P-8A Poseidon ASW and maritime patrol aircraft. They found their solution from the RDA Inc. segment of Sentient Digital Inc. in Doylestown, Pa.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced plans last week to award a five-year order to RDA for software and hardware upgrades to the Low-Cost Acoustic Processor (LCAP) engineering tool suite.
The LCAP is a roll-on/roll-off ASW acoustic test and measurement system that operates aboard the Navy P-8A aircraft. The value of the upcoming contract to RDI has yet to be negotiated.
The upcoming order will include software and hardware development, test, evaluation, installation, and participation in Airborne ASW platform prototype and development efforts testing and support.
The LCAP helps Navy and industry ASW experts test design approaches to multi-static active coherent systems and enhancements; multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) ASW signal processing; acoustic communications; investigate new capabilities for the AN/SSQ-101 and the AN/SSQ-125 sonobuoys; concurrent processing of active and passive sonobuoys; new operator machine interface designs; undersea source and receiver sonobuoy array modifications; and related digital signal processing.
LCAP is a sonobuoy test system that records command, control, and acoustic processing of legacy and developmental sonobuoys, and helps with at-sea and in-flight ASW research and development by enabling engineers and operators to interpret results, identify problems, and adjust test plans.
The system has provided test and evaluation of the Navy's AN/SSQ-101 and AN/SSQ-77C air deployed active receiver (ADAR) sonobuoys; and the SSQ-53 high-gain array and extended-range passive directional low frequency analyze and record (DIFAR).
LCAP is a PC-based architecture for rapid development, low cost, and easy upgrades, and can command, record, and process current and experimental sonobuoys in the Navy’s inventory. For more information contact RDA Inc. online at https://sdi.ai/our-companies/, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
