New advances in submarine detection could upend nuclear deterrence as we know it
Gear & Tech, Military Affairs
By Frumentarius
October 21, 2025
USS Maine ballistic-missile submarine
A cornerstone of the current deterrence structure of the world’s nuclear powers is the second strike capability provided by ballistic missile submarines.
Those stealthy, undersea arsenals of nuclear destruction have for decades operated virtually undetectable below the surface of the sea, nearly-untraceable except in Tom Clancy novels and, in real life, by acoustic sensor technicians who essentially get lucky. That is all changing and, once again, Artificial Intelligence is at the center of the revolution.
According to an article in the UK Defence Journal, advances in sensors, the technology and ubiquity of uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), and especially AI, are contributing to the revolution in anti-submarine warfare (ASW). First, the sensors are no longer mostly acoustic, as technological advances now allow protagonists to track the affects of a submarine moving through the water, and not just the sound. Those affects can range from distortions in the Earth’s magnetic field, to ripples in the current caused by the boat’s movement, to vibrations made in undersea cables when a sub passes over top of them. New sensors can track all of those affects.
In addition to improved sensors, networked and AI-empowered USVs are also multiplying both on and below the ocean’s surface. In large numbers, those USVs can provide a wider and deeper net of acoustic and other sensors, as well as the ability of embedded AI to analyze data in real time – much faster than a human could – to then positively identify and locate a submarine. USVs and all their drone cousins on land, air, and sea, are a game changer in warfare, as the war in Ukraine has demonstrated over the last few years. The same applies to the subsurface environment, as well.
https://www.sandboxx.us/news/new-advances-in-submarine-detection-could-upend-nuclear-deterrence/
