Submarine finger print sound identification

[John Connor]

So I was wondering how say the U.S. Navy has a database of sounds from different subs and boats to ID with? I guess each sound has its own uniqueness, a fingerprint if you will. I can only imagine we take a sub and park near say Russia's sub pen and listen for new stuff. I bet the CIA has a hand in this as well and Naval intelligence. Damn curious how they do this. Every sub movie I seen always seems to show that guy IDing a sub. Crimison Tide being the most notable.

 

[therealnickdanger]

http://www.usna.edu/Users/physics/ejtuchol/documents/SP411/Chapter12.pdf#search=chapter12.pdf

 

[who?]

Sonobuoys float just above the ocean floor and listen for and record sounds. Every now and then they transmit the data. If any are placed outside ports and shipyards the recordings may be matched up with satellite images.

 

[who?]

Those movies are fiction even if they seem more real than "Avatar".

 

[John Connor]

Those movies are fiction even if they seem more real than "Avatar".

Well, I know they use researchers for movies and although some of it can be exaggerated it has a basis. I did read some websites on fingerprint identification with sonar.

Speaking of movies... I would argue Tom Clancy had some really good movies based on some facts and speculation in the intel community.

 

[sm625]

It is absurd nonsense. Any system on a sub that makes noise which can be used to identify it can be modulated. I used to be able to tell when the old lady was pulling in the driveway due to the sound her car made. $2 worth of muffler tape was all it took to change that signature. Now imagine if your car's exhaust had half a dozen valves located in various places. You could open and close those valves to make a car sound like pretty much any car. Combine that with variable idle speed, hooptie style variable suspension, and you get the idea. The same concept holds true even in a nuclear powered sub with turbines. You just modulate the physical attributes of the turbine chamber and it modulates the flow and thus the noise. I am not claiming to hold any privileged information on their designs, I just know that they'd be stupid if they weren't doing this.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I can remember way back before the navy was testing Nuclear......they had a limited run testing warp drive propulsion...

 

[pcgeek11]

For the naysayers in here. Yes the submarine force can in fact ID the submarine or ship to a particular class of vessel via the sound signature. They cannot ID it down to particular ship / submarine, but the vessel types are accurate depending on the sonar tech doing the classification. This is not new technology. It was around when I was in the navy well over 22 years ago.

<--- 20 years in the submarine service.

 

[who?]

I first heard of the sonobuoys in 1983 and the company that made them was already established at that time.

 

[silicon]

For the naysayers in here. Yes the submarine force can in fact ID the submarine or ship to a particular class of vessel via the sound signature. They cannot ID it down to particular ship / submarine, but the vessel types are accurate depending on the sonar tech doing the classification. This is not new technology. It was around when I was in the navy well over 22 years ago.

<--- 20 years in the submarine service.

I would be surprised if they are not able to identify individual submarines. Each sub has its own signature which may be similar to other subs in the same class but never exactly the same. the technology to perform acoustic analysis is very good to do this.