Navy Program Research Articles

From Natural Xanthones to Synthetic C-1 Aminated 3,4-Dioxygenated Xanthones as Optimized Antifouling Agents.

Biofouling, which occurs when certain marine species attach and accumulate in artificial submerged structures, represents a serious economic and environmental issue worldwide. The discovery of new non-toxic and eco-friendly antifouling systems to control or prevent biofouling is, therefore, a practical and urgent need. In this work, the antifouling activity of a series of 24 xanthones, with chemical similarities to natural products, was exploited. Nine (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 19, 21, and 23) of the tested xanthones presented highly significant anti-settlement responses at 50 μM against the settlement of mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis larvae and low toxicity to this macrofouling species. Xanthones 21 and 23 emerged as the most effective larval settlement inhibitors (EC50 = 7.28 and 3.57 µM, respectively). Additionally, xanthone 23 exhibited a therapeutic ratio (LC50/EC50) > 15, as required by the US Navy program attesting its suitability as natural antifouling agents. From the nine tested xanthones, none of the compounds were found to significantly inhibit the growth of the marine biofilm-forming bacterial strains tested. Xanthones 4, 6, 8, 16, 19, 21, and 23 were found to be non-toxic to the marine non-target species Artemia salina (<10% mortality at 50 μM). Insights on the antifouling mode of action of the hit xanthones 21 and 23 suggest that these two compounds affected similar molecular targets and cellular processes in mussel larvae, including that related to mussel adhesion capacity. This work exposes for the first time the relevance of C-1 aminated xanthones with a 3,4-dioxygenated pattern of substitution as new non-toxic products to prevent marine biofouling.

History of bioacoustics research on aquatic and marine organisms in Hawaii

Modern bioacoustic research with aquatic animals began in Hawaii in the 1968–1969 period when three independent programs started almost simultaneously. Two faculty members began studying various facets of hearing in fish at the University of Hawaii. Another faculty member from a different department established a laboratory in which dolphin hearing and echolocation were among some of the topics studied. The Navy started a dolphin facility to train dolphins to perform Navy related tasks. The Navy program also included research on dolphin echolocation including a study comparing the performance of two dolphins and a Straza-500 CTFM sonar in target detection. The Navy facility closed in 1993 but some of the bioacoustics research was transferred to the University’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology on Coconut Island about a mile from the former Navy facility in the same bay. The HIMB program expanded into field research with spinner dolphins and humpback whales, and passive acoustic monitoring of marine organisms. The local National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA became a close partner in the PAM development and studies. This presentation will focus of the bioacoustic research performed with marine mammals highlighting some of the more important findings and contributions to the field.

In pursuit of the best ideas.

In this article the author, who is vice president (VP) and general manager (GM) of Information Systems & Global Solutions Civil at aerospace company Lockheed Martin shares how she learned the value of diversity while leading an integrated-product team for a mission-critical U.S. Navy program. She discusses the need for original thinking from a diverse group of people to overcome the program's challenges and establishing an environment that benefits from diversity.

The Soul of a New Chip

Following completion of my B.S.E.E. in 1965 and four years' military service as a U.S. Navy officer, I took a job with the Knolls Atomic Power Labs division of GE as a nuclear power plant operations supervisor at the navy's S5G nuclear plant. (Information on the S5G nuclear reactor can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S5G_reactor.) My job responsibilities involved training navy personnel for duties as nuclear plant operators on submarines and surface ships. (Additional information on the U.S. Navy nuclear training program is located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Power_School.) The navy program was very intense and demanding. This was compounded by a 28-day rotating shift schedule along with a commute of 60 miles each way to my work location in the southeast Idaho desert.

Update on the reverberation modeling workshops.

In order to investigate the status of reverberation modeling and establish well-defined benchmark problems, two reverberation modeling workshops have been jointly sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Navy Program Executive Office C4I (PMW 120). The first workshop was held 7–9 November 2006, and the second during 13–15 May 2008. This paper presents the approach used in formulating the reverberation problems posed to workshop participants and shows examples of the modeling agreement obtained for some of the workshop problems. Issues that have arisen as workshop participants have collaborated in their attempts to produce consensus solutions will be pointed out. Finally, some of the problems to be addressed at a proposed third workshop will be discussed.

Ray versus mode differences in reverberation modeling solutions for environments with high boundary scattering loss.

Several of the problems for the first Reverberation Modeling Workshop yielded interesting differences between solutions obtained with ray and normal mode methods. These particular problems were defined with high boundary scattering loss. A bottom reverberation case at 3.5 kHz with a down-refracting sound speed profile (Problem VI) will be considered as a case in point. The ray solutions show a “direct path” contribution unaffected by the bottom scattering loss as long as a direct path can reach the bottom, while the mode solutions obtained to date show a lower reverberation level during this period due to modal attenuation. These differences occur in both incoherent and coherent reverberation solutions for both rays and modes. Arguments will be presented that indicate the correctness of the ray solutions for this case. Suggestions will also be made on how the mode approach can be used to obtain solutions in agreement with the ray method. [Work supported by ONR and the Navy Program Executive Office C4I (PMW 120).]

Growth of underwater communication technology in the U.S. Navy

Research and development in underwater communications is expanding in the U.S. Navy. Although there is no single Navy program office whose primary aim is to develop underwater telemetry systems, the Office of Naval Research has made a significant investment in both theoretical and applied work over the past twenty years and currently funds multiple programs in acoustic communication. Increased throughput, better power efficiency, low probability of detection, and compact implementations are all important research topics.

Prediction of the long-term durability of lightweight aggregate concrete mixtures under severe marine environment

As part of the U.S. Navy program for the Modular Hybrid Pier development, a predictive durability analysis has been carried out to establish the feasibility of using lightweight aggregate concrete mixtures to achieve the 100-year design life under severe marine conditions. The long-term durability of concrete was predicted using both laboratory testing and numerical modeling.

A Human Systems Integration Method for Validating Team Performance Assessment within a Simulation-Based Training System

Improving simulation-based training is the focus of a Navy program of research titled Debriefing Distributed Scenario-Based Exercises (DDSBE). DDSBE is intended to optimize training effectiveness by demonstrating improved methods and technologies for assessing team and multi-team performance, diagnosis routines, and debriefing templates. A main objective of the DDSBE program in spiral 1 was to test the training simulator capability to produce valid and reliable team performance assessments. This paper describes a human systems integration test methodology and an exploratory experiment that applied the methodology. The results showed excellent assessment validity and inter-rater reliability when a handheld PC was used to assess team task and teamwork behaviors in conjunction with an automated performance recording capability. The results of this analysis should provide guidance to simulation developers in designing distributed training that supports learning combat team skills.

TALOSS (three-dimensional advanced localization observation submarine software)

An experimental US Navy program combines multiple sources of information into one 3-D display.

"We had the hose turned on us!": Ross Gunn and the Naval Research Laboratory's early research into nuclear propulsion, 1939-1946

In March 1939, Dr. Ross Gunn of the Naval Research Laboratory initiated a research program that would lay the groundwork for applying nuclear energy to submarine propulsion. The Navy contracts that followed initiated the first practical research into uranium production and isotope separation, and produced a practical method for uranium hexafluoride production (a process still used today). However, by the end of World War II the Navy's program had been absorbed by the Army's Manhattan Engineering District. This paper argues that the Navy, not the Army, deserves credit for laying the groundwork for nuclear energy in the united States. Although the atomic bomb was built by the Manhattan Engineering District under General Leslie Groves, the little-known and nearly suppressed story of the Navy's prior work in this field gives credence to Dr. Ross Gunn's claim that the Navy has been denied the credit it deserves. How and why the Navy was cut out of nuclear research and how the story was ignored illuminates another side of the first military applications of nuclear energy.

Early Warning Fire Detection System Using a Probabilistic Neural Network

The Navy program, Damage Control-Automation for Reduced Manning is focused on enhancing automation of ship functions and damage control systems. A key element to this objective is the improvement of current fire detection systems. As in many applications, it is desired to increase detection sensitivity and,more importantly increase the reliability of the detection system through improved nuisance alarm immunity. Improved reliability is needed, such that fire detection systems can automatically control fire suppression systems. The use of multi-criteria based detection technology continues to offer the most promising means to achieve both improved sensitivity to real fires,and reduced susceptibility to nuisance alarm sources. A multi-criteria early warning fire detection system, has been developed to provide reliable warning of actual fire conditions, in less time, with fewer nuisance alarms,than can be achieved with commercially available smoke detection systems. In this study a four-sensor array and a Probabilistic Neural Network have been used to produce an early warning fire detection system. A prototype early warning fire detector was built and tested in a shipboard environment. The current alarm algorithm resulted in better overall performance than the commercial smoke detectors, by providing both improved nuisance source immunity with generally equivalent or faster response times.

In brief

A US Federal Judge ruled in March 2002 that the US Navy is illegally killing songbirds (in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act) by bombing (for practice) Farallalon de Medinilla, a small Pacific island north of Guam (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/military2-20-02.html). The Navy had been dropping 2000-lb bombs and firing missiles and rockets at the island regularly, without any permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In defense of the Navy, US Justice Department lawyers argued that the plaintiffs had suffered insufficient injury because, by killing birds, the Navy was making those birds rarer, and bird-watchers get more pleasure from spotting a rare bird than a common bird. Hence, bird-watchers should be happy with Navy's program for rarifying birds.

U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Hearing Conservation Program, 1995–1999: Mean Hearing Thresholds for Enlisted Personnel by Gender and Age Groups

This study presents mean hearing thresholds from a cross-sectional study of 68,632 monitoring audiograms submitted to the Navy Environmental Health Center for 1995 to 1999. Records included U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps enlisted personnel (Navy men = 51,643; Navy women = 4,184; Marine Corps men = 12,251: Marine Corps women = 554). Mean hearing thresholds were calculated for age groups (17-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, and 50 years and older), gender (male/female), and service (Navy/Marine Corps). Although hearing thresholds worsened with increasing age, as expected, Navy and Marine Corps men have worse levels than Occupational Safety and Health Administration age-corrected values throughout most of their careers, whereas women were closer to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration values. Hearing thresholds in the Navy have not improved appreciably from historical reports. Threshold variability, as revealed by standard deviations, increased with age and paralleled threshold levels. This epidemiological information suggests that hearing conservation continues to be an important force health protection issue.

Navy Hearing Conservation Program: Threshold Shifts in Enlisted Personnel, 1995–1999

This study presents audiometric information from 54,057 Navy enlisted personnel in the Navy and Marine Corps Hearing Conservation Program database from 1995 to 1999. The purpose was to compare current threshold shift patterns for Navy enlisted population with historical literature and review programmatic effectiveness issues. The data suggest that 82% of the population did not display significant threshold shift (STS) on the "annual" and "termination" audiograms, which increased to 94% after the "follow-up 2" examination. Compared with historical data, STS rates were significantly lower for the most junior enlisted personnel (E1-E3) (odds ratio = 0.34, p = 0.00, 95% confidence interval = 0.30-0.39) but not significantly different for more senior enlisted personnel (odds ratio = 0.96, p = 0.22, 95% confidence interval = 0.90-1.03). STS rates did not appear to correlate with expected "high" and "low" noise exposure Navy enlisted occupations. This suggests further investigation to readdress the possible risk factors other than noise intensity/duration.

Wargames: Winning and Losing

There are of land, sea and air warfare. But as yet there are no of warfare. And warfare is a single entity, having a common -- Giulio Douhet [1] The wargames currently being played by the US armed services have come to resemble the most recent engagement of those military forces in live combat in Kosovo: the good guys win convincingly and no one gets hurt. However, before we laud the ability of the services first to simulate a warfighting victory and then to transform the virtual into the real, we need to ask some questions. Are the nation's land, sea, and air wargames structured to produce Douhet's experts of warfare? Are the services anticipating the changing nature of future conflict in their wargaming? Are the experiences from those wargames enriching or challenging the services' vision? Are the lessons learned in the wargames played by the separate services being transferred into the joint arena? In other words, when it comes to wargames, who's winning and who's losing? To address those questions, this article will examine the Title 10 games [2] currently being conducted at US war colleges from the perspective of personal experience as players on the Blue (friendly) and Red (opposing) sides in each of those wargames over the last few years, as well as that of neutral assessors. While applauding many of these efforts, we are principally concerned that the services are winning their wargames but losing opportunities to shape the armed forces for the future. We need to acknowledge at the outset that wargames are necessarily wide in scope, narrow in application, and broad in purpose. Wargaming, in one form or another, has been around for as long as the armed forces of one nation needed to evaluate plausible offensive and defensive options against those of a potential adversary. As an analytical device, a wargame can stretch across a wide spectrum of employment: investigating near-term geopolitical situations, testing new operational concepts, developing new measures of merit, and determining capabilities and forces required to meet credible future contingencies. Wargaming is a valuable tool, but it can be misused--particularly when attempts are made to guide the future by championing defense programs caught up in contemporary budget battles. Moreover, no single wargame can simultaneously and equally serve to train warfighters, to inform outsiders, to test concepts and doctrine, and to evaluate future force levels. Just as combat requires clearly defined objective s, so does the gaming of force application. Playing Wargames Congress authorizes the US armed forces to conduct Title 10 wargames to investigate the application of military force as it might exist in the future. The US Navy conducts its games at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island (Global), the Army at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (Army After Next/Transformation), and the Air Force plays its Title 10 game at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama (Global Engagement). The Navy's program has emerged from its well-respected Cold War Global series, and the Army and the Air Force games are post-Cold War events, each now entering its fifth year. The mechanics of the games, each typically involving hundreds of military and civilian professionals, are quite similar, positing a future conflict between the armed forces of the United States (occasionally assisted by allies) and a capable, although not necessarily symmetric, adversary. However, where once wargaming results were generated using look-up tables and manual computation, now combat models and computerized databases bring new dimensions to the art of wargaming. These computer programs can be used to evaluate the results of a massive air battle, the effectiveness of defense against cruise or ballistic missiles, and even the probability of the interaction of two submarines quietly searching for one another in several thousand square miles of ocean. …

Real‐time classification performance and failure mode analysis of a physical/chemical sensor array and a probabilistic neural network

AbstractThe U.S. Navy program Damage Control‐Automation for Reduced Manning is focused on enhancing automation of ship functions and damage control systems. A key element of this objective is the improvement of current fire‐detection systems. An early warning fire‐detection system is being developed by properly processing the output from sensors that measure different physical and chemical parameters of a developing fire or from analyzing multiple aspects of a given sensor output (e.g., rate of change as well as absolute value). The classification and speed of the probabilistic neural network (PNN), deployed in real‐time, have been evaluated during a recent field test aboard the ex‐USS SHADWELL, the Advanced Damage Control Fire Research Platform of the Naval Research Laboratory. The real‐time performance is documented and as a result of optimization efforts, improvements in performance have been recognized. Early fire detection, while maintaining nuisance source immunity, has been demonstrated. A detailed examination of the PNN during fire testing has been undertaken. Using real and simulated data, a variety of scenarios (taken from recent field experiences) have been used or recreated for the purpose of understanding potential failure modes of the PNN in this application. © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc. Field Analyt Chem Technol 5: 244–258, 2001

Multi-criteria fire detection systems using a probabilistic neural network

The Navy program, Damage Control Automation for Reduced Manning (DC-ARM), is focused on enhancing automation of ship functions and damage control systems. A key element to this objective is the improvement of current fire detection systems. As in many applications, it is desired to increase detection sensitivity and, more importantly, increase the reliability of the detection system through improved nuisance alarm immunity. Improved reliability is needed such that fire detection systems can automatically control fire suppression systems. The use of multi-criteria-based detection technology continues to offer the most promising means to achieve both improved sensitivity to real fires and reduced susceptibility to nuisance alarm sources. A multi-signature early warning fire detection system is being developed to provide reliable warning of actual fire conditions in less time with fewer nuisance alarms than can be achieved with commercially available smoke detection systems. In this study, a large database consisting of the responses of 20 sensors to several different types of fires and nuisance sources was generated and analyzed using a variety of multivariate methods. Three data matrices were developed at discrete times corresponding to the different alarm levels of a conventional photoelectric smoke detector. The alarm times represent 0.82%, 1.63% and 11% obscurations per meter. The datasets were organized into three classes representing the sensor responses for baseline (nonfire), fires and nuisance sources. A robust data analysis strategy for use with a sensor array consisting of four to five sensors for early fire detection and nuisance source rejection was developed using a probabilistic neural network (PNN) that was developed at the Naval Research Laboratory for chemical sensor arrays. The analysis algorithms described in this paper evaluate discrete samples and develop classification models that examine individual chemical signatures at discrete points.

Navy Omni-Directional Vehicle (ODV) Development: Where the Rubber Meets the Deck

The Office of Naval Research sponsored the omnidirectional vehicle (ODV) development program of the Coastal Systems Station (CSS). CSS has investigated the application of ODV technology to Navy shipboard materials and ordnance handling. Under the Navy program, ODV technology was developed and a series of vehicles were built and tested. ODT technology was demonstrated to be applicable to the shipboard environment and shown to be able to overcome conditions of confined spaces, reduced traction, ship motion, decks heeled at high angles, and on-deck obstacles. This paper focuses on the Navy's demonstration of the capability of the ODV to operate under demanding environmental conditions, ODV mechanical simplicity, and adaptability of the technology for a wide range of applications. Potential commercial applications were identified in manufacturing and warehousing, and remotely controlled or autonomous platforms employed in nuclear facilities, hazardous waste cleanup, and other operations that require the movement and precise positioning of large, heavy objects. The Navy has implemented two cooperative research and development agreements (CRADA) and others are pending for further development and transfer of ODV technology to the private sector.

Figuring Flow

NASA and the US Navy are exploring magnetic fields in search of quicker, smoother, and cheaper launches. A Navy program based in Lakehurst, NJ, wants to learn if magnetic propulsion is the answer. It awarded two contracts in December for what it calls the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. One award went to Northrop Grumman of Sunnyvale, California, and the other to General Atomics in San Diego. NASA is in the second year of a three-year program to investigate magnetic launch technology. The systems under study by NASA combine linear induction, to accelerate the vehicle to launch speed, with magnetic levitation, using opposing magnetic fields to suspend the vehicle above its track. The Navy’s catapult program does not require magnetic levitation. The US Maglev Technology Assessment, written jointly by the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Transportation, points out that since ‘magnetic drag is small at high speeds, only aerodynamic drag consumes appreciable energy.