Under-ice sonar drones and communication limits

Could an icebreaker serve as a passive-sonar drone mothership, and how would it communicate below the ice?

Potentially, but reliable through-ice communications and sensor deployment are major obstacles; ordinary sonobuoys on top of the ice cannot observe the water below.

The idea's hardest problem may be maintaining communications with submerged drones. Ordinary sonobuoys cannot simply report through solid ice, so a system must penetrate it or relay around it. A penetrator might need repeated mechanical blows or enough heat to melt through the ice, but a thermal solution could damage the sonar and demand substantial energy. A purpose-built military icebreaker could also reduce its thermal signature through a thick double hull and rafted machinery, complicating heat-seeking attack assumptions. The exchange makes clear that sensor deployment, communications, and survivability must be solved together rather than treated as separate equipment choices.