Underwater defense system

A system comprising:

• a vehicle operating at the surface of the water, said vehicle equipped with onboard sensors for underwater monitoring;
• an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) launched into the water, said UUV equipped with onboard sensors;
• a housing coupled to said UUV until said UUV is underwater;
• a communications wire spooled within said housing, said communications wire having a first end and a second end, said first end coupled to said UUV such that said communications wire is paid out from said housing when said housing is decoupled from said UUV wherein a pulling force is applied to said communications wire;
• communications electronics coupled to said second end of said communications wire, said communications electronics including an RF antenna switchably coupled to an RF receiver operating at a first frequency and to an RF transmitter operating at a second frequency, and a battery for supplying power to said RF receiver and said RF transmitter, said RF antenna and said RF receiver cooperating to receive data from said vehicle's onboard sensors and pass said data so received to said UUV over said communications wire, and said RF transmitter and said RF antenna cooperating to transmit data passed on said communications wire from said UUV's onboard sensors;
• a buoy coupled to said communications electronics for floating said RF antenna to the surface of the water such that said RF antenna breaks the surface of the water;
• and
• a drag drogue depending from said housing to supply a drag force that is greater than said pulling force such that said buoy is maintained at the surface of the water and said RF antenna is maintained above the surface of the water.