China producing more submarines, U.S. Spending more on Anti-Sub

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2011-11-24 (China Military News cited from Bloomberg and by Sabine Pirone) -- China's naval expansion in the eastern Pacific is poised to accelerate U.S. investment in anti-submarine warfare equipment, according to Ultra Electronics Holdings Plc, the world's biggest supplier of sonar detectors.

The Pentagon and its allies will focus spending on devices able to spot subs even in the noisiest shipping lanes as China's naval build-up heightens tensions with neighboring nations and underscores the need to secure commercial shipping flows, Ultra Chief Executive Officer Rakesh Sharma said in an interview.

"Even with global defense cuts the sonar business is expanding," Sharma said. "Mineral supplies and commodities, for example, are all transported by sea, so it's becoming imperative to protect trade routes. Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as the U.S., will all start investing in anti-submarine warfare as the possible threat from China grows."

President Barack Obama said last week he'd station 2,500 marines in north Australia to boost security in vital sea lanes as the U.S. moves to blunt the naval influence of China, which will add 30 subs through 2020 out of 86 likely to be built for Asia-Pacific fleets, according to defense researcher IHS Jane's.

PLA Navy Type 039B submarine

Ultra's latest technology employs multiple "sonobuoys" which are dropped from a ship or plane and return data from different angles and frequencies to determine whether an object is a submarine, a rock or a whale! , Sharma said. Earlier versions couldn't differentiate between organic and inorganic materials.

Hidden Threat

Greenford, England-based Ultra is developing sonars geared to Asia-Pacific operations at a unit in Indiana, the CEO said. Emitting more powerful acoustic pulses, they can spot submarine signatures in the most sound-polluted waters, including the Malacca Strait -- the main channel between the Pacific and Indian oceans -- and the South China Sea, where oil rights have led to standoffs between China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Other gear is able to detect variations in temperature and salinity that can help hide even nearby vessels, Sharma said.

"Water is a very good insulator and when a submarine is sitting on the seabed not moving for days it's very difficult to identify," he said. "You could have a sub sitting 5 kilometers off your ship and never hear it, or one 20 kilometers away that you can easily detect. It isn't related to the distance the sub is from you, but the way the sound is travelling."

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