In 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Navy Budget Estimates report. It stated that due to silver scarcity, the program for creating sonobuoys which was previously sourcing silver at $3.97 per troy ounce through the DLA was now procuring silver at a market rate of $30 per troy ounce.
The average price of silver at the time this report was published was $21.80 per troy ounce, suggesting Uncle Sam had to pay an 8-fold premium to source what it needed from the open market.
The reason for the incredibly low previous price from the DLA was due to recycling efforts throughout the DoD. This was the DLA's cost of recovery and refinement from the Precious Metals Recovery Program (PMRP); however, the report noted that this cheap silver source has dried up.
Uncle Sam and its Defense vendors have been sourcing their silver either directly from the source (mines) or exchanges. Recycling is no longer a winning strategy for silver scarcity (delays) or price volatility of its various DoD requests, which get budgeted years in advance.
The report also mentioned the DoD would attempt mitigation with vendors to replace silver requirements with lithium, but this change has only affected a handful of variants and most, especially ones operating in deep sea or harsh environments, and or requiring high energy output, still depend on silver chemistry batteries.
Silver Batteries
The standard types of silver batteries used for naval warfare are Silver-Zinc, Magnesium-Silver (seawater-activated), and Silver-Cadmium.
For example, the water-activated battery was first developed in the 1940s to meet a need for a high energy-density, long-shelf-life battery, with good low-temperature performance, for torpedoes at the time, but has now been adapted to a wide range of military applications.
Unfortunately, the exact specifications of the batteries used for sonobuoys are not provided to the public, and designs and efficiency losses can affect the overall amount of silver required. However, we can do some deductive reasoning to determine a ballpark.
We will go off the idea it's a single-cell battery with a voltage of 1.2 volts. Less than a typical AA battery (1.5 volts).
The info sheet for the AN/SSQ-101B Sonobuoy shows a Transmitter Power Output of 5 Watts and mentions an operating time between 4.5 to 6 hours, which would require between 18.75 to 25 Ah.
- 4.5 hours:
- Energy = 5 watts * 4.5 hours = 22.5 Wh
- Ah = 22.5 Wh / 1.2 V = 18.75 Ah
- 6 hours:
- Energy = 5 watts * 6 hours = 30 Wh
- Ah = 30 Wh / 1.2 V = 25 Ah
The amount of silver can double if a battery is rechargeable, but we know that sonobuoys are not reused and the silver has never been recycled from this use case.
Thanks to David Linden's Handbook on Batteries, it specifies that a theoretical 3-3.5 grams of silver is required per Ah of energy.
- For 4.5 hours (18.75 Ah):
- Minimum Silver: 18.75 Ah * 3 g/Ah = 56.25 grams
- Maximum Silver: 18.75 Ah * 3.5 g/Ah = 65.63 grams
- For 6 hours (25 Ah):
- Minimum Silver: 25 Ah * 3 g/Ah = 75 grams
- Maximum Silver: 25 Ah * 3.5 g/Ah = 87.5 grams
This would place the silver usage estimates anywhere between 1.8 to 2.8 troy ounces needed per sonobuoy, conservatively. Although it could easily be more based on a variant needing higher voltage output.
India & US Partnership At What Cost?
Last month, the DoD announced a First-of-Its-Kind Partnership between Ultra Maritime (UM) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on the Co-Production of U.S. Sonobuoys. Unlike UM, BDL is a company directly tied to the Indian Ministry of Defense and is one of the leaders of the Defense sector in India.
The sonobuoys will be manufactured to US specifications, ensuring compatibility with aircraft used by the US, Indian, and allied navies. The final assembly of the sonobuoys will take place in India. Ultra Maritime has stated that its goal is to have a functioning production line established by 2027.
Bharat Shakti (a leading defense news agency in India) reported less than 2 weeks ago, that India's technology purchases from the US are in the hope to extract technology and elevate India's military power.
On the surface, this appears like a strange move by the US to outsource its military production to India and allow for its technology to be stolen, especially from a power that is economically opposed to the dollar as a full member of BRICS.
Unless we consider the last step in the production of a sonobuoy is inserting a silver battery.
Did the US make a deal to give up military secrets to maintain its future silver tech superiority? It sure looks to be the case.
For More Information on Naval Warfare Use of Silver, visit our archive.
What are Sonobuoys Anyway?
Sonobuoys are essential and specialized underwater sensors necessary for tracking submarines and enhancing undersea domain awareness (UDA).
The US actively replenishing its supply of advanced sonobuoys.
It was reported late last month that the US Navy has also requested 20,000 new sonobuoys from vendor Sparton for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in a 107.1 million dollar contract. However, we discovered that the contract is actually for the amount of 213.4 million dollars for delivery of 40,000 sonobuoys from 2024-2025.
We came across another order in late 2022, the US Navy requested 126,000 sonobuoys.
Sparton claims on its website to have created over 6 million sonobuoys, which have been sold worldwide. This is just one vendor that produces them.
As far as silver is concerned, Uncle Sam doesn't appear to care how much he wastes and has encouraged India to help with the problem.
We hope the USGS comes to its senses this year and classifies silver as a critical raw mineral for its clear essential use for national security.
(Additional Sources):
DLA Precious Metals Scrap Examples.pdf
Sources of Precious Metals Scrap
Bharat Dynamics Limited - 2021 - General Product Brochure
Bharat Dynamics Limited - 2021 - General Product Brochure.pdf
AN-SSQ-101B Air Deployable Active Receiver Sonobuoy - NATO A Size - Infosheet
AN-SSQ-101B Air Deployable Active Receiver Sonobuoy - NATO A Size - Infosheet.pdf
Handbook of Batteries - David Linden - Third Edition
Handbook of Batteries - David Linden - Third Edition.pdf
Naval Products and Anti Submarine Warfare Capabilities
Naval Products and Anti Submarine Warfare Capabilities.pdf
2021 UltraGroup - Sonobuoy Reference Sheet
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