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.
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.
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.”
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, 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.
