Undersea Surveillance Aligned Under Naval Oceanography

Commander Undersea Surveillance (CUS), head of the Navy’s Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS), was elevated to an echelon IV command Feb. 28 to serve under the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC) at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

The move united the Navy’s Undersea Surveillance Command with the Navy’s oceanography community. It culminated several months of discussion and study, continuing the reorganization of NMOC efforts to focus the Navy oceanography community’s activities on the needs of its warfighting customers. NMOC is an Echelon III command under the lead of Fleet Forces Command. CUS, headquartered in Dam Neck, Va., previously was a command serving under the Naval Submarine Force.

“We believe this is a natural partnership, and we are delighted that the Navy agrees,” said Rear Adm. Timothy McGee, NMOC Commander. “CUS uses and monitors sensors in the Navy’s ASW (anti-submarine warfare) effort, and the oceanography community analyzes and predicts acoustic ranges for the Navy’s ASW effort.” “We too agree that this partnership under the umbrella of NMOC is a good fit and will benefit both communities,” said Capt. David Kern, who commands the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System. “NMOC is the Navy’s recognized leader in multidimensional battlespace awareness and we are very pleased to be part of it. Under their leadership IUSS will ultimately realize stable, long-term officer manning and potential future benefits from developments in data processing and automation.” “Operational supercomputing, performance modeling of ship operations, and the innovative ethos that delivered the undersea performance surface, will bring an increased capacity to the IUSS capability,” McGee said.

Naval oceanography provides global meteorology, oceanographic, and maritime geospatial-environmental information and services critical for safe and effective operations of the Navy and Marine Corps and the Department of Defense. More than 800 active duty, civilian and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) personnel serve the mission of CUS/IUSS through two shore facilities in the U.S., one in the United Kindgdom, and five forward deployed surveillance towed array sensor system (SURTASS) ships. The organization provides world-wide maritime surveillance and cueing from undersea sensors to warfare commanders and intelligence partners in support of ASW and homeland security/defense (HLS/D).

By Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Public Affairs

Source: NavNews