RDA to upgrade LCAP portable test and measurement system for airborne anti-submarine warfare (ASW) sonobuoys
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts needed software and hardware upgrades for an affordable sonobuoy test, development, and evaluation system for airborne submarine hunting. 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 a $13.9 million order to RDA in July to upgrade the Low-Cost Acoustic Processor (LCAP) engineering tool.
The LCAP, which RDA designed and built, is a roll-on/roll-off ASW acoustic test and measurement system that operates aboard the Navy P-8A Poseidon ASW and maritime patrol aircraft.
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.
RDA will handle software and hardware product design, test and measurement, installation, off-site field testing for research and development, data analysis, and platform prototyping for the Navy's Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare program.
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-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
