Persistent Undersea Awareness: ASW Sonar and Acoustic Networks as a Strategic Infrastructure Layer
From submarine tracking to critical seabed protection in a contested Euro-Atlantic maritime domain
The strategic vulnerability addressed by ASW sonar and acoustic networks is not the absence of individual sensors, but the absence of a persistent, integrated underwater detection architecture capable of converting acoustic signals into actionable command decisions across contested maritime regions. As NATO and the European Union increasingly frame seabed infrastructure, reinforcement routes, and maritime choke points as collective security priorities, underwater awareness shifts from a fleet-level tactical function to a structural requirement of deterrence and resilience. This analysis examines how distributed sonar systems, seabed sensors, uncrewed platforms, data fusion centres, and secure communications must operate as a coherent system-of-systems to close detection gaps, reduce attribution delay, and sustain track continuity under both high-intensity and grey-zone conditions. It situates acoustic networks within the broader institutional logic of “deter, detect, respond,” linking operational performance thresholds to industrial capacity, technological dependencies, and EU–NATO policy commitments on undersea infrastructure protection.