The U.S. Navy has ordered a $4.6 million investigation to analyze the effect of such an underwater blast on ships and submersibles within range.
Research over the years has concentrated on the dramatic and destructive impact of the water on vessels in the range of an underwater blast, which can often be deadlier than effects of an explosion on the surface or land but largely unpredictable.
The new research by Alion Science and Technology, an employee-owned technology solutions company, will analyze survivability and response of ships and submersibles to a explosion. The research will likely have global implications and also open new opportunities for Alion, other defense-related businesses and the U.S. military.
Alion's brief under the U.S. Navy contract will focus on the effects of underwater explosions, also called UNDEX, on the navy's platforms. The company says its experts will examine submarines, surface ships and associated platforms for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division's Survivability and Weapons Effect Department.
