What is a major disadvantage of submarines using active sonar?

Active sonar involves emitting sound waves and listening for their echoes to detect underwater objects. A significant disadvantage of this method is that it can compromise the stealth of a submarine. When a submarine uses active sonar, the sound waves it generates can be detected by other vessels or submarines. This creates a risk of revealing the submarine's location and potentially exposing it to threats, which contradicts the stealthy and covert nature that submarines rely on during operations.

The other options, while they describe certain aspects of active sonar usage, do not encompass the core disadvantage related to operational security that is most critical in submarine warfare.