Sound strategy: From Sonar to AI

The United States military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro drew attention not only for its audacity but also for reports that personnel loyal to Mr Maduro were apparently incapacitated by intense sound waves or directed-energy effects.

- AJAY KUMAR

Separately, Ukraine’s deployment of distributed acoustic networks to detect low-altitude drones by sound in its conflict with Russia has caught global attention. Nations are also using advanced acoustic systems to map and exploit seabed resources, highlighting that acoustics, once niche, is now a critical military and economic technology frontier.

Acoustics has been central to maritime operations because electromagnetic waves attenuate rapidly in water, while sound, especially very low frequencies, can travel thousands of kms underwater, through natural sound channels formed by temperature and salinity layers. Consequently, submarine navigation, communication, and detection have relied on acoustics since World War-I, evolving from simple hydrophones to advanced digital sonars. However, in recent years, acoustics has expanded to non-marine domains such as contested electromagnetic environments, tunnels, bunkers, jungles, and mountainous terrain.