Aerospace & Defense Technology - May 2021 - 12

Military UUV Sonar

Forces South/Commander,
wide-area survey, and finds
U.S. Fourth Fleet, and leads
the detections. BlackCAT has
a team he calls the 'innovaan optical camera and a fortion cell,' helping the Navy
ward-looking multi-beam
get new capabilities into the
echosounder to conduct
hands of the warfighter.
reacquisition and can further
" We're essentially techclassify the target, " said
nology scouts, " Heagney
Dugelay. " The analysis of
said. " We're out looking for
what it has seen, and the dethe latest and greatest techtermination about what
nologies being developed by
needs to be done next by the
DOD labs, industry and acagroup of vehicles, is done indemia, that we can pull forstride onboard the MUSCLE,
ward and bring to the fleet
and it can determine the risk
to solve operational needs. "
that there may still be someWith the Navy procuring
thing there that it hasn't MUSCLE autonomous underwater vehicle deployment from the NATO Research
24 MCM mission packages
found, and it can develop a Vessel Alliance. (Photo courtesy of CMRE)
for the littoral combat ship
compound risk map to either
target, it can tell the other one and they
(LCS), Heagney and his team are looking
go back to further search an area, or decan determine the best disposition for
at how they can employ components of
ploy other vehicles, like the BlackCAT,
them to get the best sonar return to lothose mission packages even if an LCS is
to look closer and reduce that risk. "
calize and track the target.
not available. The Military Sealift ComDr. Catherine Warner, CMRE's direcWarner said conducting science in an
mand expeditionary fast transport USNS
tor, said the Centre's diverse group of
operational context is the best laboraSpearhead (EPF 1), which supports a
scientists, engineers and technicians
tory. " We want to do science in a realisnumber of logistics and theater security
from the different NATO Nations contic warfighting environment, so our scicooperation missions, can serve as a surduct basic and applied research, but is
entists can have the best understanding
rogate LCS platform for testing. " If we
also very much " focused on real soluof what the operators need, and the opthink of LCS as the truck, and the mistions for today, " including participation
erators see how our new technology can
sion package as the payload, why can't
in NATO exercises. CMRE has used its
help them. "
we use another vessel of opportunity to
21-inch Ocean Explorer UUVs as part of
accomplish that mission with an MCM
NATO ASW exercises. They are auadaptive force package? We're stepping
tonomous and are able to talk to each
Innovation Cell
up and saying, 'Well, we've got an EPF
other and share information about
Dr. Christopher Heagney is the science
if you want to try it on other ships -
what they are seeing. If one detects a
advisor for Commander, U.S. Naval

A critical element of the LCS Mine Countermeasure (MCM) mission package, comprised of many different mine warfare platforms including Knifefish, is its common open systems architecture design. Such modularity of the mission package allows for platform flexibility and quick reconfiguration of the whole mission package in response to evolving and dynamic mission requirements the fleet will encounter day-to-day. (General Dynamics Mission Systems)

12

www.aerodefensetech.com

Cov

ToC

Aerospace & Defense Technology, May 2021
http://www.aerodefensetech.com http://www.abpi.net/ntbpdfclicks/l.php?202105ADTNAV
Aerospace & Defense Technology - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aerospace & Defense Technology - May 2021
