The Advanced Deployable System is a theater-deliverable acoustic surveillance system that will provide continuous acoustic coverage over vast ocean areas for an extended period. This is a theater-surveillance asset that will provide unique surveillance information to tactical forces. It will be capable of detecting quiet nuclear submarines, diesel-electric submarines on the battery, ships exiting or entering port, or mine-laying operations. The importance of this portable capability will intensify as our surveillance requirements increase, owing to the Navy’s focus on the littorals, the growing popularity of diesel submarines, and the downsizing of US forces.
The year 1992 defined the beginnings of the Advanced Deployable System program. As part of an initiative to adapt undersea surveillance technology to Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) in the littorals, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) directorate (PD 80) designated the Technical Director for the Fixed Distributed System (FDS), CAPT William Hatcher, as the head of this initiative (PD 80D). In looking at the problem of littoral ASW, there were many innovative approaches proposed by industry, so a study program was envisioned to gather the best ideas for implementation of the ADS vision.
Concept definition studies were conducted by AT&T, Lockheed, IBM, and McDonnell-Douglas through the early part of 1994. Concurrent with this activity, Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command released a Request for Proposal on 3 June 1994 for the Advanced Deployable System follow-on Demonstration and Validation Phase. Program Management Office personnel received and evaluated technical proposals from all four study contractors for the Demonstration and Validation Phase efforts. However, Commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command issued an amendment to the Request for Proposal on 2 December 1994, based upon a requirements change from the Fleet. The Advanced Deployable System Program conducted three highly successful at-sea exercises in 1994. The September Research Operation and Operation Ghost used Advanced Deployable System-like arrays to collect data and demonstrate detection and tracking performance against diesel-electric submarines. An Advanced Deployable System-like array also successfully demonstrated the potential of the Advanced Deployable System to detect mining related activities. In March 1995 the Naval Research Laboratory released a Request For Proposal for ten acoustic modules of an All Optical Deployable System. The Naval Research Laboratory awarded the contract to Litton on 30 June. Principal tasks on the All Optical Deployable System were the development of plans and equipment by Litton, the Naval Research Laboratory and Naval Research and Development for a two node All Optical Deployable System test in the San Diego area during the spring of 1996. On 10 April 1995 Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command announced Demonstration and Validation Phase contract award to Loral Federal Systems [subsequently merged into Lockheed-Martin Federal System's - LMFS].ADS RDT&E funds provide for the concept study, Demonstration and Validation(Dem/Val) of an ADS prototype and development for production. ADS will provide a rapid and covertly deployable undersea surveillance capability to operational forces involved in Regional Conflicts. ADS will provide timely response to tactical requirements and uses proven technology to detect very quiet submarines in the most difficult shallow water environments with very high target position accuracy. The system will include sensors, processing and an interface to the Surveillance Direction System (SDS) for reporting of submarine activity and other undersea activity to Joint Task Force Commanders (JTFC) and tactical assets. The program uses and expands on technology developed under the Fixed Distributed System (FDS) program, the Advanced Deployable Array (AdDA) Program, the Port Area Surveillance (PAS) Program, Navy Sonobuoy Programs, Office of Naval Research (ONR) Programs, and the ARIADNE Program.
ADS will be a deployable undersea surveillance system composed of distributed fields of sensors that can be rapidly and unobtrusively deployed in regional contingency areas for use against enemy submarines. It will be deployed prior to or during regional conflicts. ADS will build on the FDS-D test experience with distributed fields in shallow noisy water and use collected data for processing verification. It will use FDS developed processing technologies and will also incorporate advanced sensors and technology from other related programs. ADS is a system designed to detect and track modern diesel electric and nuclear submarines, and provide the capability for tracking surface ships.
BBN is currently teamed with Loral Federal Systems to perform engineering and development services in connection with two U.S. Navy procurements, the Fixed Distributed System Shore Signal and Information Processing Segment ("FDS SSIPS") program and the Advanced Deployable Systems ("ADS") program. Both the FDS SSIPS and ADS programs are components of the U.S. Navy's Integrated Underwater Surveillance System. In connection with the FDS SSIPS program, BBN's role has been to define the overall operational concept for FDS SSIPS, and to provide software development and operational training. BBN expects to perform a similar role in connection with the ADS program. Although the scale of the FDS SSIPS program has been reduced since its inception, BBN believes that it will continue to be involved in the FDS SSIPS program for several more years.