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Submarine Noise Clone Drone

Probably already being done in one manner or another.
  (+9)(+9)
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Enormous efforts go into keeping one's submarines stealthy by reducing noise emissions to as low as possible. At some point there is an irreducible minimum which could potentially allow an adversary to detect your vessel. Indeed, each submarine has a unique noise signature which identifies it to the enemy who would have previously logged each vessel's noise profile when it was going in and out of ports and other choke points.

The Clone Drone submersible system has several hundred autonomous underwater drones equipped with speakers and a library of high verisimilitude recordings of individual subs. Once your submarine has left Kings Bay or Clyde or otherwise moves beyond the reach of prying eyes, the fleet of clone drones disperse across the ocean whilst emitting the whispery quiet, but still audible, noise profile of your sub hence confounding the enemy's attempts to track it with certainty.

AusCan531, May 22 2016

"Stream the Nixie" https://en.wikipedi...iki/AN/SLQ-25_Nixie
Ship deployed torpedo decoy - similar idea [Custardguts, May 24 2016]

"Launch the MOSS" https://en.wikipedi...submarine_simulator
This one's a lot closer. [Custardguts, May 24 2016]

[link]






       Nice idea.   

       I was thinking about objecting on the grounds of noise pollution and its effects on whales, but the low noise levels emitted by a stealthy sub shouldn't be a nissue. [+]
MaxwellBuchanan, May 22 2016
  

       Brilliant, but like you say, they have to already be doing this right?   

       You should submit it to DARPA anyway.
doctorremulac3, May 22 2016
  

       Actually, I've never really *seen* one of those Trident submarines we're meant to have. All that's known is that a bunch of sailors disappear for several months at a time.
MaxwellBuchanan, May 22 2016
  

       Additionally, possibly, clone drones could emit a previously uncatalogued signature. This may convince the enemy that we've got an extra sub (or two) out there.
whatrock, May 22 2016
  

       True.   

       "Chaff" is a simple defensive tactic / concept that's very hard to counter, whether it be high tech sound signature emulating drones or strips of tin foil dumped from an airplane to obscure your bomber's radar profile.   

       In warfare simple and smart trumps expensive and stupid every time. Not that these would be cheap, but they'd be cheaper than losing a multi billion dollar submarine.   

       I've always supported this concept for aircraft. Stealth attack aircraft that drop a half dozen jet propelled drones programmed with feint attack profiles. We're really getting into the "Just not worth starting a war with these guys." image that we want our armed forces to project.
doctorremulac3, May 22 2016
  

       " simple and smart trumps expensive and stupid every time "   

       "Just not worth starting a war with these guys "   

       Unfortunately the guys who sell the stuff go looking for opportunities to create business, using their politico buddies as the instigators.
normzone, May 23 2016
  

       //simple and smart trumps// I thought they were just simple?
MaxwellBuchanan, May 23 2016
  

       Oh gawd...I'm glad I didn't see that coming.   

       It's going to be an interesting election...
normzone, May 23 2016
  

       Looks like it's not gonna be Bernie and Trump like I had hoped for but it should still be good for a few laughs.
doctorremulac3, May 23 2016
  

       Whispery quiet? How about a lamprey-drone which attaches to the enemy sub's hull, deploys a prop so that it is powered by the sub's motion through the water, and then plays "We are the Champions" at max volume into the hull on continuous repeat.
lurch, May 23 2016
  

       See links, especially the second one.
Custardguts, May 24 2016
  

       Pretty close [Custardguts]. The MOSS device seems more like a plane's flares and would only be used in close fighting as opposed to confounding tracking but basically the same concept.
AusCan531, May 24 2016
  

       Wonder why they withdrew it? This concept with the new available technology would be very effective. The MOSS system they're talking about is incredibly primitive technology. Probably had vacuum tubes in it. Maybe not that bad but certainly laughable by today's standards.   

       I was thinking how I'd counter it though, and of course you know the answer: counter drones.   

       I'd drop a shitload of hunter drones that would seek out anything sounding like a submarine, close and establish confirmation of the size of the ship by close sonar signature or visual contact.   

       The future of warfare is quite simple, the first side that get's their semi autonomous drones together wins.
doctorremulac3, May 24 2016
  

       [lurch] that has got to rank in the Top Ten annos. Multiple redundant power supplies and a permanent autonomous attachment method (thermite? J-B Weld?) would have the crew mutinied and the boat steaming back to port before the day was out!
whatrock, May 24 2016
  

       [lurch], fantasic! I am leaning more towards calling them barn-eccles, and they just repeat the phrase: "What time is it Eccles?"
4whom, May 25 2016
  

       "Durrr ... I got it written down on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote it down for me this morning".   

       // the first side that get's their semi autonomous drones together wins //   

       At last, hope for parents .... their surly teenagers who spend all their time alone in their bedroom playing FPS MMORPG's will suddenly be hot property....
8th of 7, May 25 2016
  

       //The MOSS first entered service in 1976 and was deployed on all American ballistic missile submarines from the 1980s until it was withdrawn in the mid 1990s.   

       How would anyone know if the subs are still out there, and this isn't just a sneaky way to cut back the budget to no subs at all? In the manner of "The rise and rise of Michael Rimmer" film (before he went on to do Red Dwarf).
not_morrison_rm, May 28 2016
  

       I was thinking that for laughs the programmers could have the clone drone emulate 1 particular sub, then slowly morph into the sound signature of one of the enemy's subs. "You idiot Pyotr, that sub you've had us tracking for 4 days is our flagship!"
AusCan531, May 28 2016
  
      
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