Boston Engineering's Advanced Systems Group (ASG) will incubate projects emphasizing maritime activities, such as its ground-breaking technology with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The site is adjacent to South Watuppa Pond and very close to the ocean, making it ideal for conducting UUV tests. "This move is in direct response to the progress made with our SBIR-funded UUV technologies," stated Mark Smithers, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Boston Engineering.
U.S. Navy officials are asking Hydroid Inc. in Pocasset, Mass., to repair and upgrade the Navy's fleet of MK 18 Kingfish unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), as well as to help train Navy personnel to use the unmanned submersibles.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head, Md., are awarding Hydroid a $26.2 million contract to handle the UUV work. The Navy's MK 18 UUV is a variant of the Hydroid REMUS 600, which Hydroid developed originally developed through funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., to support the Navy's UUVs with extended endurance, increased payload capacity, and greater operating depth.
Iran plans to build unmanned submarines. "This issue is on our agenda like other issues and cases,"Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari told FNA when asked if the Iranian Navy has plans to build unmanned submarines and other types of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles. About the reasons he didn’t provide any further details on the project, but it is known the Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
According to UN Security Council resolutions, different countries can send their warships to the Gulf of Aden and coastal waters of Somalia against the pirates and even with prior notice to Somali government enter the territorial waters of that country in pursuit of Somali sea pirates. The Gulf of Aden - which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea - is an important energy corridor, particularly because Persian Gulf oil is shipped to the West via the Suez Canal.
The PLUS (Persistent Littoral Undersea Surveillance) system consists of an undersea network of "sea gliders" and long-endurance Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs).
The UUVs perform as autonomous vessels with long underwater dwell times that carry highly capable sensors. The sea gliders are smaller autonomous vessels that collect the UUV data, and return to the surface to transmit that data to a shore-based collection and processing station.
The PLUS system is designed to easily deploy from any ship with a winch and crane and sufficient storage capacity. The testing conducted at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, R.I., Sept. 23 - 27, involved three UUVs and two sea gliders. Preliminary analyses of the results indicate that overall test objectives were achieved, and the PLUS system performed as expected.
Members of the Submarine Development Squadron Five UUV Detachment (DEVRON Five UUV Det) and LCS Squadron Anti-Submarine Warfare (LCSRON ASW) Mission Package Detachment One participated in this effort, helped set up the mission scenarios and assisted in the conduct of the tests. In turn, this exercise provided valuable training for the Navy operators who will be responsible for the PLUS system operations and maintenance. Testing will continue on the system until early 2015, when the Navy plans to deploy the PLUS system for overseas operational evaluation.
Two high-profile events from the past three years have served to highlight the growing importance of the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) in naval operations.
The first incident saw the Royal Navy minehunter HMS Brocklesby, operating off Libya in May 2011 as part of the NATO mission to enforce UN Security Council resolutions, deploy a SeaFox UUV to destroy a buoyant mine laid by pro-Gaddafi forces outside Misrata harbour. Subsequently, in August 2012, the US Navy sent dozens of SeaFox UUVs to the Persian Gulf after the Iranian government threatened to use its arsenal of Soviet-era mines to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would have effectively shut down a major proportion of the world's oil supplies.
Naval hydrographic and oceanographic units are using UUVs equipped with a wide array of sensors to chart the seabed and/or determine the characteristics of a given body of water, providing essential data for planning submarine and amphibious operations. Unmanned submersibles are also employed on search-and-rescue and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Meanwhile, trials have commenced in the US that will result in the introduction of a new class of deep-diving UUV designed to stalk hostile submarines.
Bluefin Robotics, in support of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), has successfully completed a long-endurance UUV mission from Boston to New York totaling over 100 hours with NRL’s Reliant “Heavyweight” UUV.
The multi-day mission exercised UUV autonomy methods and demonstrated the capability of a high capacity energy configuration. Further, the endurance test was designed to push the boundaries of traditional UUVs with the objective to uncover the challenges and requirements for significantly extending UUV endurance for new applications.
The exercise is part of a series to support NRL’s research in UUV-based technology for the US Navy. NRL Reliant Vehicle on DeckReliant, is an advanced version of the Bluefin-21 vehicle and, when equipped with a Low Frequency Broadband (LFBB) sonar payload, is the prototype SMCMUUV Knifefish system for the US Navy. The vehicle navigates using a fiber-optic gyro-based INS along with supplemental data from a GPS and a Doppler Velocity Log (DVL) to enable precise navigation underwater for long endurance missions.
Reliant utilizes Bluefin’s modular vehicle design that enabled the team to easily remove the payload section and add additional energy sections increasing the system’s energy capacity to nearly 40 kWh of power. Configuration took place over only a few days at Bluefin’s headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. The team mobilized the vehicle on the Boston Harbor Cruise’s, M/V Matthew J. Hughes, and deployed it outside Boston Harbor. To optimize for endurance and range, the vehicle traveled at an average speed of 2.5 knots at 10 meters water depth, resurfacing every 20 kilometers for navigation updates over GPS.
Team members on M/V Matthew J. Hughes and onshore were able to receive vehicle status information over Iridium satellite system. While the support vessel was available, it did not provide navigational updates to the UUV, leaving the system to travel completely autonomously. After 109 hours of operation and transiting over 500 kilometers through strong currents, the system successfully reached its end point in New York Harbor with 10% of its battery life remaining. The overall effort was funded by the Office of Naval Research.
