BAE Systems is developing a new undersea navigation system for U.S. Navy submarines and unmanned underwater vessels.

The project is part of a program called Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation, or POSYDON, and was commissioned by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

"BAE Systems has more than 40 years of experience developing underwater active and passive acoustic systems," said Joshua Niedzwiecki, director of Sensor Processing and Exploitation at BAE Systems.

"We'll use this same technology to revolutionize undersea navigation for the POSYDON program, by selecting and demonstrating acoustic underwater GPS sources and corresponding small-form factor receivers."

The system is to enhance precise, global positioning throughout the ocean basin. Current navigational methods that pose a detection risk for undersea vehicles forced to surface periodically to access the space-based Global Positioning System which cannot sufficiently penetrate seawater.

Under the program, the company will create a positioning, navigation, and timing system -- as well as vessel vehicle instrumentation to capture and process acoustic signals -- that allows vessels to remain underwater when navigating by using multiple, integrated, long-range acoustic sources at fixed locations around the oceans.

Working with BAE Systems will be the University of Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas at Austin.