The “Uncle Joe” Award will be renamed “Haddock” in 2025, is designed to recognize the unit and/or crew with the best operational results in passive acoustic warfare. This enriches the Navy’s knowledge of competitors and improving its passive acoustic warfare know-how.
The “Acoustic Training” award, will be renamed “Ursula” in 2025, aims to reward the unit and/or crew that develops the most significant efforts in training and maintaining qualifications in acoustic warfare.
The name “Églifin” refers to the French Navy’s missions, conducted at the height of the Cold War, which regularly saw an anti-submarine frigate (ASM) and its helicopter travel beyond the Arctic Circle to capture the signatures of Soviet submarines. During this mission that the FASM Tourville recovered one of the oldest recordings available at the Centre d’Interprétation et de Recherche Acoustique (CIRA), dating from 1988.
The “Ursula” Prize pays tribute to Ursula Pacaud-Meindl, an iconic pioneer in acoustic analysis, particularly of submarines. During her career, she conducted more than 1,100 acoustic measurements, including 734 on submarines. She is thus considered the “mother of golden ears.”