NavList:

Ed Popko you wrote:  Do you or any NavLister know what the scan range of the SAAB Sabertooth underwater vehicle is? Neither the Endurance22 Project or SAAB (www.saab.com/products/sabertooth) state it. Just how wide of a search area does it cover as it moves along?

Ed
What you say is true.  Most of the information on the Endurance22 devices concerns stability, navigation, manoeuvring, and close target inspection.  There’s very little upon target finding.  One must assume that there will be four phases.  1.  Deciding where to launch the vehicle in the first place.  2.  A basic search with side scanning SONAR.  3.  A closer look at possible targets with Synthetic Aperture SONAR.  4.  Once found, a close-up visual camera inspection.  The specifics are probably closely guarded trial and error at that depth.  The range in 2 and 3 will depend upon vehicle speed and SONAR frequency, and height above seabed of course.  The range of 4 probably depends upon how clear the water remains.  I’ve no idea what’s in the Endurance 22 devices, but the following provide a certain amount of general information upon what’s possible and the inescapable facts relating to the physics involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scan_sonar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_aperture_sonar

https://www.kongsberg.com/maritime/products/ocean-science/mapping-systems/sonars/SAS#:~:text=Synthetic%20aperture%20sonars%20combine%20a%20number%20of%20acoustic,resolution%20acoustic%20images%20as%20well%20as%20co-registered%20bathymetry.

https://www.sonardyne.com/saab-seaeye-selects-sonardyne-acoustics-for-sabertooth-hybrid-vehicle/

DaveP