Large peacetime escort programs put sonar, radar, and communications equipment into far more hands than a small experimental fleet could. Repeated exercises reveal teething problems, train operators, and turn laboratory equipment into dependable service systems before a major war begins. The navies most experienced with sonar are also best placed to build submarines and tactics that defeat it. Those countermeasures then drive another round of sensor and doctrine changes. This feedback loop makes anti-submarine warfare a qualitative technology race rather than a simple contest over escort numbers.
Notable Point · 2:01:20-2:05:07
Routine sonar use creates an anti-submarine countermeasure race
A decade of fitting and exercising sonar and radar exposes defects early while giving submarines equal opportunities to devise counters.