General Dynamics Mission Systems and General Dynamics Electric Boat demonstrated multiple mission command, control and communication capabilities connecting Bluefin Robotics’ unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and a third-party provided unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a simulated AN/BYG-1 submarine combat control center ashore.
The General Dynamics team demonstrated capabilities for real-time, two-way communications from the AN/BYG-1 control center to change the mission Bluefin SandShark UUV, via a third-party UAV while the Bluefin SandShark was operating in the water.
The General Dynamics team also launched both a Bluefin SandShark UUV and a Hammerhead canister containing the third-party AUV from two platforms, a Bluefin-21 medium-weight UUV and then from a STAPLS launcher designed by General Dynamics Electric Boat.
Kenneth Perry, a vice president of General Dynamics Electric Boat said, “The General Dynamics team successfully demonstrated our innovative STAPLs submarine payload launcher with UAV and UUV payloads, all integrated via an air-land-undersea network. It reflects General Dynamics’ commitment to delivering advanced and relevant undersea capabilities for the Navy.”
Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock Division and John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory are exploring the use of Additive Manufacturing (AM) to produce customized Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) propellers.
The propellers can be produced on-demand from both metal and plastic material--without inventory concerns--and could be tailored to specific mission requirements. Furthermore, since the AM process itself does not require tooling or fixturing, it enables rapid turnaround from customized design changes to final parts.
The U.S. Navy has been evaluating alternative power generation solutions from General Atomics, General Motors, Lynntech and NexTech Materials, to power its next generation of combat UUVs.
More concretely, the Navy has been evaluating hydrogen fuel cell technologies to convert high-energy hydrogen into electricity that, when applied to a UUV, will result in a vehicle with greater range and endurance than those powered with batteries.
Also, hydrogen fuel cell propulsion technology helps address the two major environmental challenges (petroleum use and carbon dioxide emissions) as fuel cell vehicles can operate on renewable hydrogen from sources like wind and biomass stored for later use. Once converted to electricity, water vapor is the only emission. Recharging takes only minutes.
Finally, the US Navy has selected the General Motor’s (GM) hydrogen fuel cell technology to power its latest UUV under the ONR’s Innovative Naval Prototype program for Large Displacement UUVs (LDUUV), conceived for UUVs with more than 60 days endurance. Mainly, the GM option has been based in the cost of the cells, as a lower cost can be achievable through volume production supporting automotive applications.
Last but not least, GM’s fuel cells are compact and lightweight and have high reliability and performance. These attributes match the goals of the Navy to develop reliable, affordable systems. “The collaboration with the Navy leveraged what we learned in amassing more than 3 million miles of real-world experience with our Project Driveway fuel cell program,” said Charlie Freese, executive director of GM Global Fuel Cell Activities. “Our customers will benefit from additional lessons we learn about the performance of fuel cells in non-automotive applications that will be useful in GM’s drive to offer fuel cells across consumer markets.”
“Fuel cells can be game changers for autonomous underwater systems,” said Frank Herr, ONR’s department head for Ocean Battlespace Sensing. “Reliability, high energy, and cost-effectiveness — all brought to us via GM’s partnering — are particularly important as Navy looks to use UUVs as force multipliers.”The Naval Research Laboratory recently concluded an evaluation of a prototype UUV equipped with a GM fuel cell, in pools at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Carderock, Md. The next step could be to test the LDUUV in the open sea this year, in order to field a first squadron of the robotic submarines by 2020.
Unmanned aircrafts get all the attention nowadays, but it is beneath the waves where robots are making a splash: From detecting and clearing underwater mines to reconnaissance and mapping the ocean floors, Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are becoming increasingly prominent.
Like their robotic counterparts in the air, on land and on the ocean surface, underwater craft are great for dull, dirty and dangerous tasks. They can search for and clear mines while their operators remain safely at a distance, map the ocean floor for monotonous mile after mile, or conduct surveillance of ships and harbors.
A 2009 RAND Corp. study lays out a litany of possible UUV uses, including quick strikes from underwater craft quietly positioned close to their targets, anti-submarine warfare and cyber warfare by accessing underwater communications links. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has several UUV projects underway, according to spokesman Matt Leonard. These include: (Continue Reading)
Desde 2009 el SOCOM (Special Operations Command - Comando de Operaciones Especiales) de la U.S. Navy lleva buscando un vehículo sumergible apto para transportar a sus SEALs (Sea Air Land - Mar Aire Tierra) desde un submarino o un pequeño barco hasta una orilla en territorio enemigo.
El candidato favorito actual se llama Proteus y es un UUV (Unmanned Underwater Vehicle - Vehiculo Subacuático No Tripulado) de 3,84 toneladas de peso, 8 metros de largo y 1,6 metros de diámetro, que también puede ser operado como un vehículo tripulado y cumple con el requisito SOCOM de transportar hasta seis SEALs.
Más concretamente, su bodega permite el transporte de hasta 1,6 toneladas de carga, y puede ser configurado para llevar a seis SEALs, con sus trajes de neopreno y todo su equipaje. Naturalmente Proteus también puede funcionar de manera autónoma y volver automáticamente a la nave o subsector desde el que fuera lanzado. En cuanto a su autonomía, ofrece ocho horas a una velocidad de crucero de 7,5 nudos (14 Km/H) lo cual se traduce en un radio de acción de hasta 50 Km.
La US Navy ha probado con éxito un nuevo UUV denominado GhostSwinner, que presenta la forma casi igual de un tiburón, y que se mueve casi igualmente que un tiburón.
Mide 5 pies (1,5 metros) de largo, pesa 100 libras (45,35 Kg), y puede operar a profundidades de hasta 100 pies (30,48 metros). La idea de la US Navy es utilizarlo para llevar a cabo misiones ISR en aguas enemigas.
One of the biggest focus areas of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) development is decreasing risk for sailors deployed in mine-heavy areas.
The Knifefish program, led by General Dynamics, is one of the leading UUV technologies is this area. The underwater drone will be used for mine countermeasures aboard the littoral combat ship, said Tom Mason, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems’ senior program manager for Knifefish.
“With the ability to reliably detect and identify volume, bottom and buried mines in high-clutter environments, Knifefish acts as an off-board sensor while the host ship stays safely outside the minefield boundaries,” Mason said in an email to National Defense. “In addition to enhancing intelligence reporting and situational awareness for commanders and the fleet, Knifefish also significantly reduces risk to Navy personnel.”
A future increase in submarine construction and operations by both China and Russia are not the only development of concern in the undersea domain: As autonomous technology becomes more mature, UUVs will also operate independently in areas of potential crisis or strategic importance. Officers and enlisted personnel must have the necessary training to operate the improved platforms and sensors given the potential rise in foreign submarine operations as well as unknown UUV technological advancements.
Internationally, the development and use of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) for education and commercial use are expanding, but in the military realm, developed countries are exploring UUV deployment from submarines that will create a new dynamic in the undersea domain. These new platforms and technologies have established a new era of ASW operations from the days of the Cold War, and to meet expanded foreign submarine operations and UUV technological advancements, the U.S. surface naval force is employing state of the art Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) technology aboard numerous Arleigh Burke class destroyers: The SQQ-89A(V)15 Combat System, which will be aboard 64 destroyers by 2020, and the new Multi-Functional Towed Array (MFTA) are game changers in ASW operations.
As a Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV), LTV 38 is able to perform at a maximum depth of 1,000 meters for up to 72 hours.
It is designed as a full-pressure hull vehicle, capable of both line of sight and over the horizon communications, and can also conduct limited autonomous contact avoidance maneuvers via acoustic sensors while anchored and such missions are conducted and controlled remotely.
LTV 38 was originally developed for the Sea Stalker program. The vehicle is 27 feet in length and 38 inches in diameter, and was originally assembled in 2008 by Penn State University's UUV land-based test facility at State College, Pennsylvania.
It underwent its first series of operational tests shortly after its assembly and made its first operational deployment on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96). Once a few final operational preparations are completed over the next few weeks, it will be ready to hit the water for both capabilities tests and proficiency training.
"This is certainly a key milestone for Detachment UUV in that we will have a baseline training vehicle for the future of Large Displacement UUVs," said Lt. Brian Nuss, officer in charge at Detachment UUV. "The future large-diameter vehicles will come in 2020 and in order for the detachment to fully prepare for the delivery of those vehicles we have to start with the tactics, training and procedures now to make it a successful program in the future. We couldn't have done this without the partnership from Keyport, Penn State and Commander, Submarine Force Pacific, supporting us both financially and realizing that there's a gap in training that needs to be filled for Det. UUV to succeed in the future," Added.
The use of unmanned vehicles in the undersea environment is projected to grow for the Navy. During a recent visit to the Pacific Northwest, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, told Sailors he envisions having autonomous underwater vehicles on patrol by the end of the decade. UUVs allow naval submarines to safely gain access to denied areas with revolutionary sensors and weapons. These areas may be denied based on unacceptable risks to a submarine such as extremely shallow water, very poor acoustic conditions, or mined waters. UUVs provide unique capabilities and extend the "reach" of naval platforms while reducing the risk to the submarine and its crew.
“It mimics a fish. It looks like a fish. We call it robo-tuna, affectionately, but it is a UUV. It does not have a propeller or a jet. It actually swims by flipping its tail around,” says Capt. Jim Loper, concepts and innovation department head, Navy Warfare Development Command, Norfolk. “We’re imaging this can loiter for days, possibly weeks on a battery that allows it to maintain its position. This is a sensor we can put out there that matches in with the local life so to speak,”
Part of what makes the “robo-tuna” such an asset, besides its stealth nature and ability to swim up to 40 knots, can be traced back to fish biology. “The fact that the front portion of the animal is mainly stationary when swimming is important because when you carrying sensors, you don’t want everything moving all over the place and messing up what you are carrying on board,” says Mark Smithers, vice president and chief technology officer at Boston Engineering. The Navy hopes that as technology advances its new UUV will be readily available for missions such as undersea mine detection and extended surveillance of ships, ports and submarines.
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport (NUWCDIVNPT) has a requirement for services to perform systems engineering, system development, technical analysis, installation, integration, testing and evaluation services in support of U.S. Navy, Government-owned Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) (Read more)
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.
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.
The U.S. Navy recently introduced the new 65-foot Coastal Command Boat (65PB1101, or CCB) into the fleet.
Among other maritime security missions, the CCB will test new concepts in employing unmanned underwater vehicles. The boat has been configured to operate the MK 18 Mod 2 Kingfish UUVfor mine counter-measures operations.
Two of the 800-pound, 12-inch diameter UUVs sit in cradles on the stern of the CCB and are launched with the boat’s hydraulic crane. The Navy is considering deploying the CCB to the Middle East for operational testing sometime in the next year. Operating up to day-long missions from a shore base or even the well deck of a larger amphibious mothership, the CCB and MK VI PBs will deploy multiple mine-hunting UUVs.
The Navy has also tested the man-portable SeaFoxmine neutralizer from rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs). If equipped with SeaFox, the CCB and MK VI could not only find, but clear, detected mines, a capability that today is conducted with much larger dedicated mine countermeasures ships.
In October 2013, Kongsberg Defence subsidiary Hydroid, Inc., of Pocasset, MA received a maximum $36.5 million, 5-year, sole-source award for its unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) from the US Navy’s Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head, MD. They’ll be buying 2 types of UUVs: MK18 MOD1 Swordfish and MK18 MOD 2 Kingfish. Both of these UUVs are currently contractor-operated, but the US Navy does intend to begin operating them itself by 2015. They probably could be loaded onto a Littoral Combat Ship as an interim measure, ahead of the planned 2017 in-service date for Bluefin Robotics’ Knifefish SMCM mine-countermeasures UUV.
The department within Israel’s Ministry of Defense, tasked with developing next generation weaponry, MAFAT, is working on developing unmanned underwater vehicles, the market for which could exceed $2 billion by 2020, Israel’s Globes business daily reported, citing MAFAT aeronautics director Dr. Yuval Cohen.
UUVs include ROVs - remotely operated underwater vehicles that are operated by remote control – and AUVs - autonomous underwater vehicles which are fully robotic, submarine drones, where Israel’s ingenuity could add the most value. The biggest market would be in mine-sweeping, Dr. Cohen told Globes. “The current response to this threat is slow and very expensive sweeps. Development of an automated unmanned submarine for efficient mine-sweeping, without risking human lives, should be very worthwhile and there is a good global market,” he said.
Bluefin Robotics, a leading provider of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), announced that the company has added the L-3 Klein UUV-3500Side Scan Sonar to its growing list of vehicle payload offerings.
The L-3 Klein UUV-3500 sonar is one of several next-generation, compact digital sensors available on Bluefin vehicles that provide both side scan sonar and interferometric bathymetry data particularly suited for mine countermeasures applications.
In 2012, the Ocean Technology Lab at the University of Victoria first integrated the sonar on a Bluefin-12 by utilizing Bluefin’s standard payload interface. Their team conducted successful demonstrations and survey work in Canadian Arctic and provided valuable feedback to both Bluefin and L-3 Klein regarding system level performance.
Basically, SeaFox is a mine disposal unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) manufactured by Atlas Elektronik. Guided by a fibre-optic cable, this UUV is primarily used to detect and classify mines and other identified ordnance in sea, although can also be used in damage estimation, intelligence, route survey, maritime boundary control and harbour surveillance missions. The complete SeaFox system includes a console, a launcher, and the SeaFox vehicle. It can be launched from a range of naval platforms such as dedicated mine counter measures vessels (MCM), surface combatants, rubber boats and helicopters. The UUV is currently in service in more than ten countries, including Royal Navy, Royal Thai Navy, US Naval Surface Weapons Centre and US Navy.
Variants
SeaFox is mainly offered in four variants to meet the different mission requirements of users. The variants include SeaFox C (a one-shot mine identification and disposal vehicle system used as a tool to semi-automatically dispose mines and other related things found in the sea), Sea Fox I (a mine identification, inspection and training UUV), SeaFox T (a training version of the SeaFox C) and SeaFox COBRA, equipped with the COBRA explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tool supplied by ECS Special Projects
Design features
All the variants of the SeaFox UUV have a similar physical design and dimensions. The UUV has an overall length of 1.31m and width of 0.39m. It is designed with a height of 0.39m, and weighs approximately 43kg. The UUV can be operated at a depth of up to 300m. It can operate at a maximum speed of 6kt. It has a maximum endurance of 100 minutes depending on the assignment and other conditions.
Navigation and sensor system
SeaFox uses transponder/responder aided dead reckoning (pressure sensor) for navigation in the sea. The operator communicates with the SeaFox using a fibre-optic cable. About sensors, SeaFox is equipped with FLS sensors and a TV camera to identify the target and acquire related information.
Propulsion and power
The vehicle includes four independent reversible motors and a hover thruster which provides high manoeuvrability in reaching the desired position. Both SeaFox C and SeaFox COBRA are powered by non-rechargeable LiSO2 battery, while Sea Fox I and SeaFox T variants use rechargeable NiMH batteries.
