they re called sonobuoys. they re a sensor package out of the aircraft. will deploy a hydro dols phone. once it hits the water surface it has saltd water switches that starts activating different deployments. everything in this canister starts to unwind. there s a bunch of gear in there that is packed in nicely. there s a radio antenna that talks to the aircraft so the buoy and the aircraft are constantly in communication. microphone is listening for signals on a very long string and they deploy below the canister. reporter: the australians got this batch from american manufacturers, sent a cargo plane to indiana in recent days to pick up more than 1,000 sonobouys. the device was first tested and deployed by the u.s. navy but not for this purpose. in antisubmarine warfare this is one of the tools the navy has to look for and track enemy submarines. so they re under the ocean surface, they don t have a radar signature. you need to use sound and smart waves both actively and pass
surface. it has switches that start activating different deployments. there is dear in there packed in nicely. some of it floats to the surface there is a radio antenna that talks to the aircraft. and then the microphone, hydr are ophone is lit stening to a signal. they sent a cargo plane to indiana in recent days to deploy a cargo plane. anti-submarine mwarfare this is one of the tools that the navy has to look for and track the submarine. they need to find them and track them. on this mission, the buoys have been modified to detect sound in the range of black box
these are called sona buoys. a sensor package that s parachuted out of the aircraft, floats on the surface of the ocean, and will deploy a hiredphone. once it hits the water s surface, it has saltwater switches that activate different deployments. everything in this canister starts to unwind. there s gear packed in nicely. some of it floats to the surface so there s a radio antenna that talks to the aircrafts or the buoy in the aircraft, they re constantly in communication. then the microphones, hydrophones are looking for the ping. this came from american manufacturers, sent a cargo plane to indiana in recent days to pick up more than 1,000 buoys. the device was first tested and deployed by the u.s. navy but not for this purpose. in anti-submarine warfare, this is one of the tools the navy has to look for and track enemy submarines. they re under the ocean s surface. they don t have a radar signature. you need to use sound and smart
wolf, teams are stretching the boundaries of this technology and they have done it again. the latest signal came from something designed for maritime combat, not search and recovery. they are dropped out of a plane and descend below the surface, open up their payload and hunt for their target. these are not bombs or torpedos, they are called zosonobuoys. they deploy a hydrophone. a source tells cnn that sonobuoys were dropped from an australian pc-3 orion plane. it has saltwater switches that starts activating different deplo deployments. there s a bunch of gear in there. some of it floats to the surface so there s a radio antenna that talks to the aircraft and they
expertise. expertise that we don t believe that they had. so again, to the extent that the malaysians are willing to accept the help of a more capable and experienced partners, we re more likely to yield the sort of information and results that we need. i want to bring van in to this. there s a video. i m going to show him the video and i want you to explain what is going on. this could be very critical. it s a sonar buoy. you see this plane and you see something come out. that s the buoy. explain what happens as it enters the water and you see a series of steps that unfold. all right. so this is a standard piece of equipment employed by our and the australian s p-3s and p-8s. what you ve got is one type that goes to the surface to have a radio antenna and now you have hydrophones that are coming out of the buoy casings themselves. this becomes a short-term listening device at that point in the ocean. it s got a radio antenna so it s talking to the aircraft the