Navy ELF to Be Scrapped

engywook writes "National Public Radio and The Daily Press of Ashland, Wisconsin (among others, I'm sure) are reporting that the US Navy plans to scrap the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) system for communication with its fleet of nuclear submarines, both in Wisconsin and Michigan. The report states that the Navy no longer feels that ELF is necessary, and that they will now rely on 12 VLF systems. The system has been in operation since October 1989. The system has been protested nearly the whole time, both as a part of a Weapon of Mass Destruction and as a potential health hazard."

Comments

Re:Don't confuse me with a conspiracy theorist whe

[Kiryat Malachi]

That's all well and good, except this is a lot more in line with shutting down excess air bases than it is with "shutting down" non-lethal weapons research. The ELF system is very much a Cold War relic, and like other Cold War relics (DEW system, excess missile and air bases) the military is slowly decommissioning it.

There's no reason to believe the technology is being scrapped; however, there is every reason to believe the facilities are being decommissioned. Somewhere, just in case, I'm sure the Navy will maintain documentation and maybe even surplus equipment, but the radio towers are being taken down. Thinking the Navy is trying to hide an actively pursued ELF program is like thinking they're stockpiling 286s - sure, it could be true, but they have no reason to do such a thing when newer technology exists and is as or more effective.

ELF system scrapped....

[argStyopa]

Which is considered a resounding victory by the Deep Water Attenuated Radio Frequency scientists, whose next project is to eliminate the Overseas Radio Communication system, and if they're really lucky, the Targetted Repeating O-band Laser Link systems as well.