Routine oceanographic surveys collect information on seawater temperature, salinity, currents and seabed topography – data that is indispensable for marine science.
Yet that same information could also improve underwater acoustic models used in submarine operations, anti-submarine warfare and the planning of undersea infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, they pointed out.
According to James Holmes, a maritime strategist at the US Naval War College, such missions should be viewed as inherently dual-use. He noted that similar surveys years ago by the United States generated friction with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.
“Water is a complex medium for submarine and anti-submarine operations,” he said. “Variations in pressure, temperature and salinity tend to refract sound and layers can form beneath which submarines can hide.”
