The design and development of piezocomposites for use as the actuating device in an underwater acoustic control system coating will be discussed. Both flexible piezoceramic and 1–3 piezocomposite designs are explored as actuator candidates in the thin‐walled polymer matrix encapsulant coating. The actuators will be presented in single layer form for the absorption of normally reflected acoustic pressure waves. A bilaminate design will be shown for the absorption of both the normally reflected and transmitted acoustic waves. Experimental measurements will be used for performance comparison of different composite and lamination designs.