Anti-submarine warfare involves identifying faint recurring sounds over long periods, which requires large amounts of acoustic data to remain available in memory. Air defence places more emphasis on processing numerous fast tracks and generating identification and firing information. These are differences in emphasis: anti-submarine work still needs considerable processing power, and air defence still needs substantial memory. A ship expected to excel in both roles must support both demands. Removing the resulting computer heat without an obvious thermal trace is described as more difficult than managing engine exhaust heat.
Notable Point · 1:54:09-1:56:54
Why anti-submarine and air-defence computing need different resources
Long acoustic comparisons demand substantial memory, while fast air engagements demand rapid processing, and both systems require cooling.