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THE AUTEC ENVIRONMENT
AUTEC's Bahamas location, with its semi-tropical climate, quiet acoustic environment,
lack of commercial encroachment, and extensive capabilities, is an ideal year-round test
facility. AUTEC is located on Andros Island because of its close proximity to the Tongue
of the Ocean (TOTO), a unique, deep water basin, approximately 110 nautical miles (204 kilometers)
long and 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) wide, varying in depth from 4500-6000 feet
(1.4-2 kilometers). The basin floor is relatively smooth and soft, with very gradual depth
changes. TOTO is bounded on the west by Andros Island, on the south and east by large areas
of very shallow banks that are non-navigable, and on the north by the Berry Islands. This
area of gradually varying depths, ranging from 30-2000 feet (9-610 meters), is a prime
location for littoral warfare training exercises. In addition to the Berry Islands, AUTEC
offers other surrogate shallow water test sites off the east coast of Florida.
AUTEC's geography, low vessel traffic, protected environment, minimal shipping noise, slight
currents, and absence of large ocean swells provide unsurpassed operational security and the
required diversity necessary to support the Navy's "from the sea" mission.
