BAE Systems has been awarded a $4.6 million contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for work under its Mobile Offboard Clandestine Communications and Approach program.

The MOCCA program seeks to allow submarines to detect other undersea vessels at greater distances without being detected.

"The objective is to achieve significant standoff detection and tracking range through the use of an active sonar projector deployed offboard a submarine and onboard an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV)," DARPA's notice stated. "The submarine will need the ability to coordinate the operational functions of the supporting UUV. Thus, the program must also demonstrate the ability to achieve reliable clandestine communications between the host submarine and supporting UUV without sacrificing submarine stealth."

BAE's work will be conducted under the first phase of the contract, which will focus on the sonar and communications technical challenges of the MOCCA program.

These include the development of an active sonar system suitable for UUV operations as well as the design and implementation of a secure and reliable communications link for positive control of a UUV operating far from its host submarine.

"Advances in maritime technology are critical to the Department of Defense and an area where the U.S. military can continue to strengthen its advantage," said Geoff Edelson, director of Maritime Systems and Technology at BAE Systems. "With the resurgence of near-peer competitors and an increasing number of submarines, MOCCA technology will provide Navy submariners with a vital asymmetrical advantage against a rapidly proliferating undersea threat."

That "undersea threat" to the U.S. is growing rapidly, especially from Russia. The New York Times reportedin 2015 that intelligence officials saw increased activity by Russian submarines operating near undersea cables that carry a large portion of global internet communications. The implication is, according to intelligence personnel, that the Russians could be planning to attack or disrupt these cables.

Additionally, one conclusion drawn from a

report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies

in 2016 was that "Russia is expanding its use of undersea warfare in a broader strategy of coercion aimed at its neighbors, NATO, and the United States."

About Mark Pomerleau

Mark Pomerleau is a reporter for C4ISRNET, covering information warfare and cyberspace.

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