EVALUATION OF THE LOGARITHMIC SPIRAL SEARCH PATTERN FOR ANTISUBMARINE WARFARE

This thesis investigates the ability of a searching submarine to locate a recently lost target submarine using the logarithmic spiral search pattern. The study was done by developing a stochastic, time-step simulation to data farm quantitative information. The measures of effectiveness are time to regain contact, distance away from contact on regain, and overall probability of detection. The independent variables are assumed target speed, the searcher’s starting distance away from the target, and the target’s frequency of maneuver. A key finding of this study is that this search pattern is the most effective within the first two hours, after which the likelihood of locating the target drops significantly. Additionally, there is a proportional relationship between target maneuver frequency and probability of detection and a negative correlation between the searcher’s starting distance away and the probability of detection. Finally, it was found that basing the searcher’s maneuvers by assuming a speed at the extremes of likely target speeds degrades performance. Overall, this study quantitatively supports the efficacy of the logarithmic spiral search pattern and provides a framework for future research to develop antisubmarine warfare tactics.

Department dc:contributor.department

Operations Research (OR)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Chyra, Zachary S.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lucas, Thomas W.

Statement dc:rights

• This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/73630

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/73630