Defence Applications of Operational Oceanography

Oceanographic conditions can affect naval operations in a variety of ways, and for this reason navies around the world have traditionally used oceanographic observations, and climatologies derived from them, for operational decision making. Rapid advances in global ocean observing systems since the 1990s, and more recently in operational ocean forecasting systems, offer substantial opportunities for improved decision making. The recent focus of many defence forces on information superiority has coincided with the availability of high resolution forecasts of oceanic physical properties. These oceanic data sets are being used to assess and forecast such properties as: sea surface height, temperature and salinity, for acoustic applications to undersea warfare; and oceanic currents and tidal streams, for Search and Rescue (SAR), mine warfare and amphibious applications. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is using ocean forecasts from the BLUElink global ocean modelling system, and a limited area ocean model, and is developing a very high resolution model for applications in the littoral zone, as well as integrating high resolution oceanographic data into sonar range prediction models. These military applications of operational oceanography are reviewed, and illustrated with examples from an Australian perspective.