Full Speed Ahead

When Vice Admiral Charles Martell was assigned to head the Navy's lagging antisubmarine warfare program (ASW) in May 1964, the job looked even less appealing than battleship duty during the early years of the Pacific war--which he already had under his belt. Beset by political bickering, personal rivalries and red tape, ASW resembled a "zany fire department," as one dissatisfied officer put it.

Last week the 55-year-old white-thatched admiral reviewed the progress logged in the 16 months since he took over. By general agreement, the U.S. antisubmarine program today is anything but zany.

The U.S., noted Martell, is currently spending $2.5 billion a year on ASW--only $2 billion less than it spends on strategic missiles and bombers. One reason is that the Soviet navy has a 430-sub fleet, including 150 new long-range models, of which 30 are nuclear-powered--compared with the U.S.'s 134 subs (51 nuclear). Another cause for concern is that the Russians have recently concentrated on long-range offensive strategy. Over the past year, Red subs have been sighted in strength for the first time in the Mediterranean and the Philippine Seas.

To even the odds, the Navy has evolved a whole new arsenal of anti- submarine weapons. Items:

. MARK-46. A lightweight, self-guided, solid-fuel missile with an underwater speed faster than the newest nuclear subs; it can be dropped from a plane or an unmanned remote-controlled helicopter called DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter), dives to a preset depth, then zigzags around in search of enemy subs.

. MARK-48. Big brother of Mark-46, but still under development, it is to be launched from submarines, dive deeper and travel faster than the Mark-46.

. ASROC. A surface-to-subsurface rocket that can deliver a torpedo or a nuclear depth charge, ASROC is the mainstay weapon of all ASW surface ships, is currently operational on 130 and will be on 20 vessels more by next June.

. SUBROC. The underwater version of ASROC is launched from a submarine, shoots into the air, dives back into the water to streak toward a target.

. SQS-26. A supersophisticated sonar that bounces pings off thermal layers in the water, can reach out 35 miles, nearly three times as far as existing sonars; it is standard equipment on all ASW surface ships under construction.

. BQQ-2. The underwater counterpart of SQS-26, to be installed on all new submarines.

. ANEW. A control system for coordinating data from sensing equipment on sub-hunting planes and sonar devices dropped from planes; it is under development.

. SEAHAWK. An advanced, 5,000-ton surface ship designed expressly for hunting subs; a prototype is scheduled to be built in the 1970s.

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