MAGSAFE should locate targets without flying close to the surface.

Finding 'objects of interest' at sea with MAGSAFE

MAGSAFE is a new system for locating and identifying submarines.

• 11 March 2009 | Updated 14 October 2011

• Partners
• Outcomes
• Technical details

Operators of MAGSAFE should be able to tell the range, depth and bearing of a target, as well as where it’s heading, how fast it’s going and if it’s diving.

Building on our extensive experience using highly sensitive magnetic sensors known as Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) for minerals exploration, MAGSAFE harnesses the power of three SQUIDs to measure slight variations in the local magnetic field.

Partners

MAGSAFE is an A$7 million co-investment project which includes an A$3 million contract with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation's (DSTO) Capability Technology Demonstrator program.

Outcomes

Laboratory prototypes and assessments by visiting researchers confirm the potential of this new approach.

We are working closely with DSTO to verify the systems capabilities including conducting airborne trials prior to commercialisation.

Technical details

MAGSAFE has higher sensitivity and greater immunity to external noise than conventional Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) systems.

This is especially relevant to operation over shallow seawater where the background noise may 100 times greater than the noise floor of a MAD instrument.

The additional tracking information (the three-dimensional nature of MAGSAFE's output) is possible because MAGSAFE captures eight magnetic field related data values per reading.

Conventional MAD magnetometers only take a single measurement.

Also, MAGSAFE gathers its data from one fly-past that doesn’t have to be directly overhead or close to the surface.

MAGSAFE should also be successful when a submarine uses active degaussing and can be adapted to mine detection and ranging of ships.

Find out more about CSIRO's Superconducting devices and systems.