JASCO Applied Sciences has its origins in defence. Founded in 1981 by retired Canadian government defence scientist Joseph Scrimger, the company has a long history of providing underwater acoustic systems and analytical services to defence organizations.

JASCO’s expert team can assist clients with prediction and evaluation of sonar systems performance, assessment of vessel vulnerability to acoustic detection, and effective advice on mitigating the environmental impact of naval operations. Defence R&D organizations worldwide utilize our instrumentation and expertise in support of their initiatives, and task us to perform noise measurements (sound ranging) on naval vessels.

We collaborate with major defence prime contractors by supplying and customizing software for detection, classification, and localization of underwater sounds of interest to national security organizations.

Specialists with lived defence experience

Former naval and military specialists work in key roles in our organization. Their past active service gives them deep understanding of naval operations, military sonar systems, modern anti-submarine warfare, and military lexicon. This direct experience contributes a uniquely defence-tailored focus to the broad technical capabilities of our teams:

• Highly skilled in collecting, interpreting, displaying, and processing underwater acoustic data from a range of sensor configurations including complex spatial arrays.

• Experienced in designing, developing, and deploying active/passive sonar systems.

• Broad understanding of procurement procedures and in-service support.

• Well-established in research and development activities for armed forces.

Our science team delivers advanced analytical services and our highly experienced field staff help ensure the success of technical missions

Mature and evolving acoustic detection and identification

JASCO’s software developers work closely with our acoustic analysts to improve and adapt our detection algorithms and classification software to efficiently identify an expanding library of acoustic sources. Combining our established experience with the most recent advances in signal processing keeps our capabilities at the forefront of the industry. Our user-configurable detector suite enables our clients to leverage their unique situational knowledge to improve detection performance of targets of interest.

Environmental stewardship

JASCO is committed to protecting the marine and coastal environments from impacts of underwater noise. Our services support our defence clients’ goals to protect unique and sensitive ecological resources in the areas where they train and conduct tests. JASCO has the instrumentation and expertise to measure source levels and directivity of sonar systems, conduct naval vessel self-noise assessments, and predict and monitor potential effects of naval activities on marine environments. We aid our clients to better understand and mitigate the impacts of their operations.

Recent Projects

Near-real-time detection and ambient noise measurements from Slocum gliders in support of Naval Operations

JASCO’s OceanObserver™ was integrated aboard Teledyne Webb Research Slocum gliders to enable near real-time, in-situ detections and ambient noise measurements. One NATO Navy acquired eight Slocums fitted with OceanObserver and CTD systems for measuring both ambient noise and sound speed profiles for Rapid Environmental Assessments (REA). Information gathered by the glider enables naval planners to better predict sonar performance and vessel vulnerability of detection in potential naval operating areas.

Long duration vertical arrays for the Canada Basin Ambient Noise and Propagation Experiment (CANAPE)

As part of the Canadian Arctic Underwater Sentinel Experimentation (CAUSE) project, JASCO successfully deployed four 8-hydrophone vertical arrays for 1-year in the Arctic for the DRDC Atlantic Research Centre. Using Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks for precise time synchronization, the arrays measured propagation loss, reverberation and ambient noise, and contributed to acoustic tomography experimentation. The collected data and JASCO’s subsequent analyses help to better understand the effects of changing Arctic conditions over a large area of Canada’s Arctic waters.

Drifting Arctic ice buoy for DRDC Atlantic

JASCO designed, built, deployed, and later recovered a drifting ice buoy as part of the Coordinated Arctic Acoustic Thermometry Experiment (CAATEX) to measure underwater sound in the presence of winter sea ice in the Beaufort Sea. Withstanding a year of drifting in the polar sea ice, the buoy’s vertical array of 8 hydrophones captured data for Arctic thermography and long-range communications experiments which help enhance Canada’s ability to monitor the Arctic approaches to North America.

Underwater Warfare Suite Upgrade (UWSU) for the Canadian Navy

In partnership with General Dynamics, JASCO is designing, manufacturing, testing, and delivering the Transient Detection System and Ownship Noise Monitoring components for the Canadian Department of National Defence. As part of the upgrade to the Anti-Submarine Warfare capability of the Halifax Class frigates, JASCO’s software development efforts are supporting substantial improvements in Canada’s ability to detect and track underwater targets.

Contact us to learn more about JASCO’s services and products.