– How can Navy submarines communicate / navigate but the missing titanic submersible can’t do either.

Question

Context: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65953872

The above titanic submersible that went missing can only send short text messages from the ship to the submersible. From my understanding there is no GPS underwater and radio communication is impossible. How can Navy submarines communicate and navigate while submerged in the ocean but the missing submersible can’t?

In: 121

Answer 1

Military submarines usually operate at relatively shallow depths. Officially most nuclear submarines can only safely dive to depths of around 300 meters. Most regular communication takes place by surfacing or using Very Low Frequency (VLF) systems which require huge antennas.