Sonic and ultrasonic weapons (USW) are weapons of various types that use sound to injure or incapacitate an opponent. Some sonic weapons make a focused beam of sound or of ultrasound; others produce an area field of sound. As of 2023 military and police forces make some limited use of sonic weapons.

In response to devastating allied shipping and human losses from German U-boat attacks during World War II, the Navy began using sonar. Today sonar is used to track and target submarines,...

Sonar is a key tool for submarines, surface ships, and antisubmarine warfare–capable aircraft. Shorthand for “sound navigation and ranging,” sonar uses sound waves to detect objects beneath the ocean’s surface. It provides situational awareness and allows ships to engage targets underwater as well as across the surface-subsurface interface.

Radar, a relatively well publicized development, gives eyes to the fleet; sonar contributes cars and a voice underwater. The Navy’s story of research and development in Subsurface Warfare, for two decades a closely guarded secret, was released to the American people by the Chief of Naval Operations on April 6, 1946.

Basic Sonar Operators detect, track, and classify surface and sub-surface contacts; conduct minor maintenance on and operate mainframe sonar systems, depth sounding equipment, and other...

2023年11月30日 · A Navy frogman tests new sonar equipment developed to located underwater objects. The lightweight, portable, diver-held sonar system is economically powered by standard flashlight battering....

Skilled technicians use the reflected sonar pulse to determine the distance to and movement of an object. Common active sonars include echo sounders (such as depth sounders and fish finders),...

The Navy uses the LFA sonar system when a target is too quiet to be detected by the passive (SURTASS) system alone. The LFA sonar system is a vertical line array (VLA) consisting of as many...

2021年5月27日 · The TR-343 sonar transducer is part of a larger acoustic sonar weapons system that supports the AN/SQQ-89(V) weapons systems with Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability. The AN/SQQ-89(V)...

The AN/SQS-53 is the most advanced surface ship ASW sonar in the US Navy inventory. It is a high-power, long-range system evolved from the AN/SQS-26CX, used actively and passively to detect and localize submarine contacts.