This guide is for anyone looking to start learning about ASW tactics. It can be a tough concept to wrap your head around at first, but as you play more you will refine your tactics and understanding of what works best. ASW is just as much an art form as it is a science.

-At its most fundamental level, sonar works by sending out a pulse of sound energy at a certain frequency and then listening for that sound to come back. If the sound pulse bounces off an object, like a submarine, the pulse will return to the origin (your ship) and give you information on that contact. Onboard warships there are two kinds of sonar that are important to understand: Active and Passive.

- Active sonar is essentially the process described above. The ship or submarine sends out a pulse and waits to see if there is a return. The element to think about with active is the trade-offs, you may get information on your target if you send out an active pulse, but similar to how tracer rounds work, that sound pulse will also reveal your position to others listening in the water.

- There are very few instances where you should be using active sonar, especially as a submarine, since your stealth is your biggest weapon.

- Passive sonar is what you will use 99% of the time while playing. Think of passive as just listening in the water. Thinking back to the trade-offs mentioned in the section on active sonar, you may get less information from your contact if you're just listening but you will not reveal your position, which may allow you to get a better firing position.

- Just from what I have seen so far (as of 11/15/24), it seems like sensors in the game (Towed Array and Hull Mounted Arrays) passive sensors have a longer range, and that logically makes sense. Similar to radar, due to the physics of sound traveling in water, the range at which you can detect sound will always be farther than an active pulse can return. In other words if I send out a pulse and you are really far away, you may hear my active ping, but I may not get a good return.

- Unlike in the air, water is not a good medium for electromagnetic waves (RADAR, Radio Detection and Ranging). However, water is a fantastic medium for sound to travel through, but it doesn't always behave the way you might think. There are a number of factors that can affect sound as it travels through the water.

- The most important factor to think about for the game is something called the thermocline, otherwise known as "The Layer"

- Water temperature is not uniform in most bodies of water. The top layer will typically be warmer than the deeper water. Anyone who has been scuba diving will tell you this. The interesting part is that there is typically a pretty sharp cutoff where the water suddenly will be much colder. This results in a large change in sound speed which in turn makes it very difficult for sounds on one side of this layer to escape to the other.


-This image shows the large difference in water temperature that can occur in a relatively small water column.

- This "layer" or separation of the water column means that there is an invisible barrier where sound will have a difficult time passing through. This in turn means that a submarine could be hiding underneath this layer and be very difficult to find.

- In Sea Power, both USN and Soviet subs have several tools to help find enemy submarines: Hull Mounted Sensors and a Towed Array

- When you are first looking for a contact, you should think about your own signature. As your submarine moves through the water it will make noise which will make it more difficult to hear the enemy submarine.

- No matter what the scenario, you want to set yourself up for success. Typically ordering a slow speed (5kts usually), deploying the towed array, and keeping active sonar off is a winning combo.

- Remember, you're in a dark room and you want to have the best chance to hear someone else, so moving slowly and putting out all your sensors will give you the best chance of doing so.

- The next consideration is in regards to the layer. The depth menu in the lower left will tell how deep you are in relation to the layer. When searching for an enemy submarine, you need to search both above and below the layer.

- Typically enemy submarines will be hanging out below the layer since it is safer from surface ships there.

- There are several schools of thought on approach tactics, but most of them will end up with the same thing.

Your goal should be to quietly get behind the enemy submarine

- Submarines will typically have what's called a "baffles region" or an area that is not well covered by sonar sensors. This area is behind the submarine, and logically it makes sense. The submarines screw is back aft as well, so not only are there not many sensors facing that way, they would have to try and pick up noise over the sound of the ships own screw.

- Keep in mind during your approach, the enemy is always hunting you as well. A common submarine tactic is something called a "Sprint and Drift." Basically, the submarine will drive hard and fast for a little while, then it will slow way down and just listen. The submarine may make some maneuvers in order to "clear the baffles" or check areas it may not have been listening to before. Once that is done, the submarine will go back to its original course and kick back into high speed again.

- Once you've achieved your position behind the enemy, you should fire one or two torpedoes, ideally at a time that would give the enemy submarine the least amount of time to react (i.e. during one of their sprints.) Torpedoes are very noisy, but if the enemy ship is also making a lot of noise and your attacking from in the baffles, that gives your torpedoes the best chance at hitting.

- Once you shoot your fish you should prepare to deal with incoming torpedoes. What many submarines may do is upon detecting your torpedoes, they may shoot their own torpedoes on a reciprocal bearing (back the way your torpedoes came). They may not have a good fix on you, so you have time to get out of the way of those before they go active, but don't be surprised if that happens.

- The best way to avoid incoming torpedoes is to turn and put the incoming torpedoes perpendicular to you, and then drive hard that direction. Keep in mind, you may want to re-attack the enemy submarine, so don't just fly into the distance, keep an eye on things.

- This should be a good basic layout for starting out on these kind of attacks. As you play more scenarios, you will find out what works and what doesn't and get a sense of how it all comes together.

- As with any tactics in warfare, the tools you have will dictate how you engage the enemy. In this case having an ASW helo will make the search portion either much easier or much harder. NATO ships typically pack a helo, but on the PACT you may not have one.

- If you do have a helo, you can use that to probe ahead of you, either with sonobuoys or dipping sonar. In my experience sonobuoys work best as a screen ahead or to the flanks of your ship or ships. If you're lucky, the helo may also be packing heat to deal with the submarine if found and you can begin prosecuting the target immediately.

- If you do not have a helo, what may work best is to put out the towed array (TA) on your ship and then slow down. You want to maintain forward progress and maneuverability, but also be moving slow enough to actually hear something. The unfortunate nature of surface ships fighting submarines is that the submarine will usually be the one to dictate first contact. That's why using a helo to push the submarine can be so critical, getting inside their decision making loop.

- As with all sonar searches, be sure to check above and below the layer!

- No matter how you have found the enemy submarine (ASW Helo or incoming torpedos) you should pause and take a second to think. Use the map tools! You may only have a bearing to the target from the torpedos coming in, but you can often use the ruler on the map to triangulate a rough location of the submarine.

- If you're lucky enough to get them from a sonobuoy or dipping sonar, be sure to mark that position and a possible course on the map to help yourself later on.

- At this point you have completed the hardest task of finding the sub, and now you simply have to use the weapons you have to finish them. Stealth is the submarines main weapon, but once you remove that, they will have a much harder time surviving.

- Hopefully this has been helpful, I'm open to any and all feedback on it. ASW is a slow, patient game, you will not get the results you want by rushing it. Best of luck and good hunting.