POSYDON – DARPA’s Underwater GPS

POSYDON – DARPA’s Underwater GPS

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GPS – what would we do without it? It can let you know how to get to a new friend’s house, help navigate an unknown country, and even direct a missile to its target. One thing GPS can’t do is penetrate to the deep reaches of the ocean. Soon enough, though, the seas may have their own positioning system, if the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gets its way.

GPS works by broadcasting microwave signals from a constellation of satellites orbiting the Earth. Barring obstructions like tall buildings and mountains, these signals can reach pretty much anywhere on the surface of the planet, but anywhere underwater is pretty much impenetrable for them. Sure, submarines could always surface to get some quick positioning, but this poses its own risks, especially when operating in hostile waters.

DARPA is now working with BAE Systems and not-for-profit company Draper to develop an underwater GPS-like system called the Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON).

On its end, BAE is working on a technology that utilises long range acoustic sources deployed at fixed locations around the ocean. It’s also working on the instruments that can pick up the signal sent from these sources and process them for accurate positioning. Much like GPS, this system will also rely on signals from multiple sources to accurately calculate a vessel’s location.

“BAE Systems has more than 40 years of experience developing underwater active and passive acoustic systems,” said Joshua Niedzwiecki, director of Sensor Processing and Exploitation at BAE Systems. “We’ll use this same technology to revolutionize undersea navigation for the POSYDON program, by selecting and demonstrating acoustic underwater GPS sources and corresponding small-form factor receivers.”