Adaptive correcting combiner for arrays of acoustic vector sensors with phase and gain mismatch errors

•Performance analysis of arrays of acoustic vector sensors (AVSs) for underwater surveillance.•Frame hosting the AVSs is not acoustically transparent introducing phase/gain mismatch of signals.•Coherent processing of acoustic intensities at each AVS with adaptive equalization of distortions.•Analysis of real data collected at sea with a bottom node with 2 AVSs and a towed array of 5 AVSs.•Comparison with Cramer-Rao Lower Bound of DOA estimation (the method is asymptotically efficient).