Sonar Operator News

SeaFox: a quicker, cheaper, safer mine-hunting capability for the Navy when it comes to keeping sea-lanes open. Mine hunting is the mission, identification and neutralization is the method; maintaining open, safe sea lanes is the goal. In the past, these tasks were accomplished by explosive ordnance disposal divers or the antiquated SLQ-48 Mine Neutralization Vehicle. While these units fit the bill and accomplished the mission, the Navy is always looking to complete tasks and missions quicker, cheaper and safer. Enter the SLQ-60 SeaFox Mine Neutralization System.

The U.S. Navy’s investigator into the collision of a nuclear submarine and a Japanese fishing vessel testified on Tuesday that the presence of three civilians at the ship’s controls had nothing to do with the accident in which nine people died. Investigator Rear Adm. Charles Griffiths Jr., testifying on the second day of the official Court of Inquiry, said, “In my professional judgment, they had zero impact on the collision. He said that the civilians at the controls of the USS Greeneville on Feb. 9., the day it rammed and sank the Japanese fishing training vessel the Ehime Maru, were a woman at the control of the ship’s Klaxon bell which sounds an alarm during emergency maneuvers, a man at the ballast control and another man directing the rudder.

China’s state owned Guangdong Construction Engineering Group (GCEG) has purchased JW Fishers side scan sonar system. The sonar is being used to the map the bottom of various waterways before and after construction projects. It is providing engineers with information on the make up of the bottom (mud, sand, rock, etc.), as well as helping to locate and identify debris or any obstructions. Using Fishers side scan sonar and Sonar View software, GCEG engineers are able to produce detailed maps of the bottoms of rivers, lakes, and the ocean. The sonar images can be displayed on a standard laptop computer or Fishers Splashproof PC with ultrabright LCD display.