Navy to Use Less Intense Sonar in Pacific Rim Exercises

AP ^ | 7/5/6

[SmithL]

HONOLULU — The Navy said it will rely on a different type of sonar during exercises off of Hawaii after environmentalists won a temporary restraining order stopping the service from using a high-intensity sonar that could harm marine mammals.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper's order came after the Defense Department granted the Navy a six-month exemption from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow use of the "mid-frequency active sonar."

Environmentalists had argued the exemption was aimed at circumventing the lawsuit they filed last week to stop the Navy's use of the sonar in the Rim of the Pacific 2006 exercise.

Government lawyers were reviewing the ruling, and the Navy will probably respond soon, said Jon Yoshishige, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, participants in the multinational exercise will search for submarines using "passive sonar," which historically has been used during such exercises, Vice Adm. Barry Costello, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said in a statement late Monday.

Active sonar locates objects by analyzing sound bounced off them, while passive sonar involves analyzing noises generated by the objects.

Vice Adm. Barry Costello, commander of the U.S. 3rd Fleet, said Tuesday that using active sonar to track submarines is a skill that would deteriorate with a lack of practice.

[SmithL]

It will do a fantastic job of tracking less intense enemies.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Ahhhh - that's so sweet!

[ClearCase_guy]

Who you calling less intense?!

[SmithL]

Cooper, Florence-Marie

Born 1940 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Central District of California
Nominated by William J. Clinton on July 14, 1999, to a seat vacated by Linda H. McLaughlin; Confirmed by the Senate on November 10, 1999, and received commission on November 15, 1999.

Education:
City College of San Francisco, 1971

Whittier College School fo Law, J.D., 1975

Professional Career:
Law clerk, Hon. Arthur Alarcon, appellate department, Los Angeles Superior Court, 1975-1977
Deputy city attorney, Los Angeles, CA, 1977
Senior research attorney, Hon. Arthur Alarcon, Second Appellate District, California Court of Appeal, 1978-1980
Senior research attorney, Hon. Woods, Second Appellate District, California Court of Appeal, 1980-1983
Adjunct professor, San Fernando Valley College School of Law, 1980-1985
Court commissioner, Los Angeles Superior Court, CA, 1983-1990
Judge, Los Angeles Municipal Court, CA, 1990-1991
Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, CA, 1991-1999

Race or Ethnicity: White

Gender: Female

[Gay State Conservative]

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper's order came after the Defense Department granted the Navy a six-month exemption from the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow use of the "mid-frequency active sonar."

And this dame was appointed by.........

[Gay State Conservative]

You anticipated my first question.

[Volunteer]

I dearly hope this is just a joke that some Admiral's staff dreamed up to play on the press corp.

Attention environmentalist wackos - I don't give a rip about sea creatures when the Navy is training to kill bad guys. I am sure you have not noticed, because the Greenpeace website does an amazingly bad job reporting on the real world, but we are at war. It got much worse over the weekend because the tiny little crazy in North Korea tested some missiles. His pal, the crazy in Iran is watching.

For the love of God, are these people just stupid or so screwed up that they don't get it?

[Severa]

Sonar PING

[jazusamo]

For the love of God, are these people just stupid or so screwed up that they don't get it?

Both

[RexBeach]

This is pure BS.

What's next? "Less intense" warships?

Is there any proof - at all - to suggest that sonar really does harm fish or marine mammals?

Sounds like the judge is a little pink.

[PeteB570]

I would rather the US Navy use as strong a SONAR as needed to help it find the new class of diesel electric/fuel cell subs.

Joke as some might but I don't want a Chinese or Iranian sub purchased from Germany or Russia coming within 250 miles of our coast. I'd like to see them have an "Accident".

[stuartcr]

2 countries that pose virtually no ASW threat.

[river rat]

Well now -- the environozis succeeded in killing a number of Astronauts by their insistence on "Green" products --- now they want to try their hand at killing on a much larger scale by putting blinders on our Silent Service.

Envirowackos should required to live where there is NO technology to threaten "nature" --- and leave the rest of us alone..

F'em....they've gone too far and cost too dearly...

Semper Fi

[stuartcr]

Since you can't ask animals how they feel, it is difficult, you have to look at what happens during and after these tests. The tests that were conducted by the Navy, were not at operational acoustic levels. Very early in the prototype phase, there was an incident in the med, involving a foreign military diver that was in the water in the western med, while the ship was operating in the eastern med, resulting in major injury. Consequently, the testing was put on hold for quite a length of time, and never operated in the med again. Later testing showed that the ping generated off of Heard Island, 53.1S, 73.5E, was received off the coast of Iceland. That is a lot of acoustic power.

[GovernmentShrinker]

A couple of years ago, FReeper Long Cut, who had worked in subs tracking other subs with sonar, and was at the time providing air support for same, weighed in on this issue. Said the sonar program was a big waste of money, the primary purpose of which was to inflate the egos of the Admirals in charge of it. As for those allegedly super-quiet North Korean diesel subs, he said they sound like freight trains. His bottom line was that the whales should be a higher priority than the Admirals and their expensive sonar programs. Unfortunately, Long Cut left FR last year, so isn't around to weigh in again.

[taxed2death]

"Sonar-Lite".... for those times when you almost have to find the enemy. Lubricant included.

[xp38]

this thread isn't intense enough for me to ping anyone

[Buckeye McFrog]

so that's how Clinton did it...he only appointed Canadians?
She did not want to run for Governor of Michigan, I assume?

[Lou L]

So you're citing a Freeper who was around a couple of years ago, who claimed to work in subs, tracking other subs with sonar as proof of something? In wartime, there will be few submarines actively pinging anyone or anything; it's a dead giveaway of their position.

I too, have some experience in the matter, and let me tell you this...

First of all, diesels may sound like frieght trains when their diesels are running, but when on batteries, diesels are extremely quiet. Often, active sonar is the only way to detect them, particularly in littoral waters.

Second, regardless of whether or not NK's current subs are noisy, they may not be noisy aty some point in the future. All it takes is for some other advanced nation-state (oh, maybe China or Russia) to sell them a new engine mount, propellor blade, or pump technology. All of a sudden, they're not noisy anymore.

Bottom line, there is very good reason to maintain, and even advance active sonar capabilities, even at the potential risk to marine life.

[Doohickey]

Kinder, gentler sonar ping to the Steely-Eyed Killers of the Deep

.