The RACUN-project: Robust acoustic communications in underwater networks — An overview

Modern armed forces are currently transforming into flexible rapid action forces. In international activities typically very few ships need to patrol a large sea area. Effective solutions are needed in order to develop and maintain capabilities for remote coastal monitoring. A network of underwater nodes can rapidly be deployed and fill these gap. In this context a group of leading European Research Institutes and Industry set up a collaborative R&D initiative called ‘RACUN’ under the umbrella of the European Defence Agency (EDA). The technology will allow for a network-centric approach to the underwater environment, which is currently not available. This paper gives a general overview of the project, which started in autumn 2010.