Abstract: The velocity of a vessel is determined in real time by a doppler sonar sym providing acoustic beams wherein received beams provide a plurality of bins or returns from various depth segments. The frequency shift with respect to at least two different bins is determined. The velocity of the vessel with respect to each bin is determined according to the phase shift of the respective bin. The vessel velocity is determined as an average of the determined velocities of the bins along the acoustic beam. The acoustic beams are paired to form beam pairs wherein each bin in one beam of the beam pair has a corresponding bin in the other beam of the beam pair. The phase shifts of the corresponding bins are used to determine a relative frequency shift for the corresponding bins. This determination is made along the length of the beams of the beam pair and averaged. The averaged resolved ship doppler profiler velocity when compared to inertial velocities determines water current velocities.

Abstract: A quick deployment vehicle (QDV) for implanting a transponder or beacon on he ocean bottom in an upright position exposed for receiving or transmitting acoustic signals. The vehicle includes a ballistic body of separable fore and aft sections. The fore section includes a core mass for penetrating the ocean sediment, and the aft section includes a beacon for signal transmission. A predetermined interval after impact, as determined by a programmed deceleration profile stored in memory, the sections will separate. The sensed deceleration of the vehicle is compared at predetermined intervals to the stored profile, and when the sensed level is less than the stored level, a squib is fired to separate the two sections. The aft section penetrates and remains exposed above the sediment, while the fore section further penetrates into the ocean bottom.