When not deployed, an Akula's towed array is stored in a teardrop shaped container mounted on top of the vertical fin A submarine can likewise monitor surface combatants by floating the tail of its array above a thermal layer while lurking below. By dropping the array's 'tail' below the layer, a surface ASW platform can better detect a quiet, submerged contact hiding in cold water below a warm upper layer. This compensates for density and temperature differences, which duct sound above or below a thermal layer by reflection.

Long seismic streamers have intermediate paravanes along their length which can be used to adjust the depth of the array in real time.Д¬hanging an ROV's depth allows a towed array to be deployed in different thermal layers, giving a surface anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessel a view above and below the layer. Another weighted cable may trail from the ROV connector, dropping the towed array to a lower depth. Surveillance Towed Array Sensor Systems used by surface ships have a sonar array mounted on a cable, which pulls a depth-adjustable remote operated vehicle (ROV). On the first few hundred meters from the ship's propeller there are usually no hydrophones, because their effectiveness would be reduced by noise ( cavitation and hull flow noises), vibration and turbulence generated by the propulsion-which would repeat the same problems of ship-mounted arrays. Alternatively three or more arrays are used to aid in depth detection. Similarly, various elements are angled up or down, giving an ability to triangulate an estimated vertical depth of target. Hydrophones in a towed array system are placed at specific distances along the cable, the end elements far enough apart to gain a basic ability to triangulate on a sound source. There is also equipment located in a ballast tank (free flood area) while the cabinet used to operate the system is inside the submarine. Navy submarines typically store towed arrays inside an outboard tube, mounted along the vessel's hull, with an opening on the starboard tail. On surface ships, towed array cables are normally stored in drums, then spooled out behind the vessel when in use.

Cold waters towed array