Can satellites replace survey ships or track submarines?

Can satellites replace hydrographic ships or directly track submarines?

Not directly: satellites may reveal anomalies and narrow a search, but accurate seabed and water-column data plus local ASW investigation remain necessary.

Broad satellite observation cannot provide the accurate underwater mapping performed by survey ships. A sufficiently mature model could flag anomalies in currents and ocean behavior, but those anomalies might be rocks, wrecks, animals, surface ships, or submarines. Fast-moving orcas demonstrate why motion alone does not provide reliable classification, while a submarine may also loiter beneath another vessel. One academic test produced roughly 1,500 North Sea contacts in a day, a workload that would demand far more patrol aircraft than the Royal Air Force could reasonably field. A satellite network valuable enough to narrow an ASW search would also become an early target in wartime. The concept still needs better environmental data, processing, classification, and local investigation, so it remains an aid to ships, sonar, and aircraft rather than a stand-alone replacement.