Hypersonic and underwater threat-sensing system

Abstract

Maritime threat-sensing buoys include sensors—such as acoustic, radio frequency, visual, or other sensing devices—that track, identify, or classify hypersonic or underwater threats in real time. Some examples of suitable sensing devices include microphones, radio-frequency (“RF”) detectors (for example, RF antennas), infrared detectors, and machine-vision detectors. The maritime threat-sensing buoys may be deployed using aerial or maritime vessels, and may host payloads, such as threat-sensing mechanisms, batteries to power the threat-sensing mechanisms, solar panels configured to deliver electricity or other energy to the batteries or other devices, and other cargo or contents.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A maritime threat-sensing buoy, comprising:
 a lower shell including at least a portion that resides below a surface of water when the buoy is afloat;   an upper shell connected to the lower shell, wherein at least a portion of the upper shell resides above the surface of the water when the buoy is afloat;   at least one sensor in the lower shell configured to detect threat objects below the surface of the water; and   at least one sensor in the upper shell configured to detect threat objects above the surface of the water.   
     
     
         2 . The buoy of  claim 1  further comprising at least one battery contained and secured in at least one of the lower shell or the upper shell. 
     
     
         3 . The buoy of  claim 2  further comprising at least one solar panel on an outer surface of the upper shell configured to deliver electricity or other energy to the at least one battery. 
     
     
         4 . The buoy of  claim 1  wherein the upper shell includes a top cover, at least a portion of which is radio-frequency transparent. 
     
     
         5 . The buoy of  claim 1  wherein the at least one sensor in the lower shell comprises at least one of a microphone, a radio-frequency detector, an infrared detector, or a visual detector, and the at least one sensor in the upper shell includes at least one of a microphone, a radio-frequency detector, an infrared detector, or a visual detector. 
     
     
         6 . The buoy of  claim 5  further comprising a processor linked to at least one of the sensors in the upper shell or the lower shell that is configured to process data detected by the one or more sensors to which it is linked into smaller packets of data. 
     
     
         7 . The buoy of  claim 1  further comprising at least one of:
 a lower waterproof electronics box in the lower shell that contains the at least one sensor in the lower shell, or 
 an upper waterproof electronics box in the upper shell that contains the at least one sensor in the upper shell. 
 
     
     
         8 . The buoy of  claim 1  wherein the upper shell and the lower shell comprise a unitary structure including at least one access panel that provides access to the interior of the buoy. 
     
     
         9 . A maritime threat-sensing system, comprising:
 a plurality of buoys positionable on the surface of water, each of the buoys including:
 at least one sensing mechanism configured to detect at least one of a hypersonic threat object or an underwater threat object. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  comprising at least three buoys configured to triangulate the position of a threat object. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the sensing mechanism comprises at least one of a microphone, a radio-frequency detector, an infrared detector, or a visual detector. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising a processor linked to the at least one sensing mechanism that is configured to process data detected by the at least one sensing mechanism into smaller packets of data. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the sensing mechanism is configured to detect threat objects at altitudes less than 100 km above the water's surface. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9  wherein, when the buoy is afloat, the at least one sensing mechanism comprises at least one of a first sensing mechanism positioned above the water's surface, or a second sensing mechanism positioned below the water's surface. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the at least one sensing mechanism is housed in a waterproof electronics box. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9  wherein each buoy includes at least one battery contained and secured therein. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein at least one of the buoys includes at least one solar panel configured to deliver electricity or other energy to the at least one battery contained therein. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 9  wherein at least one of the buoys includes a top cover, at least a portion of which is radio-frequency transparent. 
     
     
         19 . A maritime threat-sensing buoy, comprising:
 a buoyant shell; and   at least one of:
 means for detecting hypersonic threat objects contained in the buoyant shell, wherein the buoyant shell is configured so that the means for detecting hypersonic threat objects is positioned above the surface of water when the buoyant shell is afloat; or 
 means for detecting underwater threat objects contained in the buoyant shell, wherein the buoyant shell is configured so that the means for detecting underwater threat objects is positioned below the surface of the water when the buoyant shell is afloat. 
   
     
     
         20 . The maritime threat-sensing system of  claim 19  further comprising means for processing detected data and transmitting the processed data to a device or system remote from the buoy.