Anti-Submarine warfare (ASW) is an essential part of the Navy’s defense mission. Submarines are the ultimate stealth weapons, and the Navy must be able to detect them at long distances, before they pose a danger to our surface ships. Currently there are 224 submarines operated by non-allied nations, and the submarines prowling the world’s oceans today are much quieter and more deadly than ever before. An undetected enemy submarine is an underwater terrorist, threatening any surface ship or coastline within its range.
 
Early in the 1982 Falklands conflict, for example, the British Royal Navy established regional maritime dominance with a single submarine attack, sinking the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano. Had Argentine submarines been successful in their attempts to damage or sink one of the two British small-deck carriers or several logistics ships, the outcome of the conflict might have been very different.
 
SURTASS LFA allows the Navy to detect these new submarines at long range with enough time to react. The Navy has investigated the use of other acoustic and non-acoustic technologies to fill this need. Only low frequency active sonar is capable of providing the long-range submarine detection capability the Navy needs.