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Nicholas Fiorenza/Brussels
Christina Mackenzie/Paris
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were originally designed to protect surface vessels and ports from mines. The use of navies in peacekeeping and stability missions, where law enforcement is as much an aspect of operations as force projection, combined with the demands of littoral warfare and the ever-present threat of terrorism on critical infrastructure like ports, are giving rise to new types of AUVs that are also engineered to counter unconventional threats.
Dozens of companies are developing autonomous vehicles of varying shapes and sizes, often using subsystems and components from other platforms to reduce cost and speed development.
BAE Systems, for example, self-funded development of a miniature version of its Talisman AUV earlier this year and put it on display in just six weeks. Weighing 50 kg. (110 lb.), Talisman L (littoral) is a carbon-fiber vehicle that can be carried by two people and launched and retrieved by almost any type of vessel, including rigid inflatable boats used by special forces. The 4.5-meter-long craft can be loaded inside the larger Talisman M for insertion close to shore. Talisman L operates at depths of 1-100 meters (3-330 ft.), compared to the 3-300-meter depth range of Talisman M.
Talisman M can enter a harbor carrying the L version and launch it to inspect port facilities in waters that are too shallow, if only by a meter, for the M model, says Andy Tonge, BAE Systems' Insyte product manager for autonomous systems. Talisman L carries high-definition forward and side-scan sonar and multi- view cameras. Like Talisman M, the L version operates manually as well as autonomously, hovers and turns within its own length and has vertical motion capability. Endurance is 12 hr.
Both vehicles have the curves of a sports car--not surprising, as Tonge says they were designed "using technology from the racing-car industry." Designers also looked at a large payload capacity for the Talisman M. The result is an AUV with an internal payload bay that carries up to 500 kg. (1,100 lb.), making its total weight when fully loaded 1,200 kg.
BAE began trials of Talisman L in September. In tests last year with the U.S. Navy, Talisman M carried BAE's Archerfish mine neutralizers. During the deployment, an Mk 56 mine was detected by the Talisman M sonar, its location was transmitted to an operator on board a vessel, and an Archerfish was launched and vectored to the target, which was destroyed. Talisman carries four Archerfish, two Talisman Ls or two SeaFox AUVs from Atlas Elektronik.
SeaWolf, also from Atlas, was developed as a remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicle for operations against buried mines, but reengineered as an autonomous platform. The company says the 2-meter-long AUV is suited for the surveillance and inspection of harbors and other confined areas. It hovers to inspect areas of interest in detail.
Atlas designed another AUV, the 3.45-meter-long Sea Otter Mk II, for surveillance and reconnaissance as well as mine-hunting. It has a preprogrammed navigation system and can be equipped with a fiber-optic cable for data transmission. Modular design permits Sea Otter to carry different sensor payloads. By adding one or two extension modules, the AUV also carries heavy payloads, including the Sea Fox mine-disposal vehicle, or can be configured to transport divers and special forces from a submarine.
The Sea Otter Mk II is being tested by the German navy and should be in production next year, says Horst Bendig, sales manager of vessel systems at Atlas.
Sea Wolf and Sea Otter participated in the NATO harbor protection trials in Eckernforde, Germany, on the Baltic in August 2008, without errors. With a payload consisting of Edge Tech side-scan sonar and Tritech forward-looking sonar, and operating at 5 meters, Sea Wolf conducted an AUV mission in the harbor with a wireless local area network connection. Following this was a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mission with forward-looking sonar, during which the AUV was connected to a fiber-optic cable. The AUV exercise found 12 objects, which were subsequently identified by the ROV.
here is the link
AUVs Target Unconventional Threats | AVIATION WEEK
Christina Mackenzie/Paris
Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) were originally designed to protect surface vessels and ports from mines. The use of navies in peacekeeping and stability missions, where law enforcement is as much an aspect of operations as force projection, combined with the demands of littoral warfare and the ever-present threat of terrorism on critical infrastructure like ports, are giving rise to new types of AUVs that are also engineered to counter unconventional threats.
Dozens of companies are developing autonomous vehicles of varying shapes and sizes, often using subsystems and components from other platforms to reduce cost and speed development.
BAE Systems, for example, self-funded development of a miniature version of its Talisman AUV earlier this year and put it on display in just six weeks. Weighing 50 kg. (110 lb.), Talisman L (littoral) is a carbon-fiber vehicle that can be carried by two people and launched and retrieved by almost any type of vessel, including rigid inflatable boats used by special forces. The 4.5-meter-long craft can be loaded inside the larger Talisman M for insertion close to shore. Talisman L operates at depths of 1-100 meters (3-330 ft.), compared to the 3-300-meter depth range of Talisman M.
Talisman M can enter a harbor carrying the L version and launch it to inspect port facilities in waters that are too shallow, if only by a meter, for the M model, says Andy Tonge, BAE Systems' Insyte product manager for autonomous systems. Talisman L carries high-definition forward and side-scan sonar and multi- view cameras. Like Talisman M, the L version operates manually as well as autonomously, hovers and turns within its own length and has vertical motion capability. Endurance is 12 hr.
Both vehicles have the curves of a sports car--not surprising, as Tonge says they were designed "using technology from the racing-car industry." Designers also looked at a large payload capacity for the Talisman M. The result is an AUV with an internal payload bay that carries up to 500 kg. (1,100 lb.), making its total weight when fully loaded 1,200 kg.
BAE began trials of Talisman L in September. In tests last year with the U.S. Navy, Talisman M carried BAE's Archerfish mine neutralizers. During the deployment, an Mk 56 mine was detected by the Talisman M sonar, its location was transmitted to an operator on board a vessel, and an Archerfish was launched and vectored to the target, which was destroyed. Talisman carries four Archerfish, two Talisman Ls or two SeaFox AUVs from Atlas Elektronik.
SeaWolf, also from Atlas, was developed as a remotely operated unmanned underwater vehicle for operations against buried mines, but reengineered as an autonomous platform. The company says the 2-meter-long AUV is suited for the surveillance and inspection of harbors and other confined areas. It hovers to inspect areas of interest in detail.
Atlas designed another AUV, the 3.45-meter-long Sea Otter Mk II, for surveillance and reconnaissance as well as mine-hunting. It has a preprogrammed navigation system and can be equipped with a fiber-optic cable for data transmission. Modular design permits Sea Otter to carry different sensor payloads. By adding one or two extension modules, the AUV also carries heavy payloads, including the Sea Fox mine-disposal vehicle, or can be configured to transport divers and special forces from a submarine.
The Sea Otter Mk II is being tested by the German navy and should be in production next year, says Horst Bendig, sales manager of vessel systems at Atlas.
Sea Wolf and Sea Otter participated in the NATO harbor protection trials in Eckernforde, Germany, on the Baltic in August 2008, without errors. With a payload consisting of Edge Tech side-scan sonar and Tritech forward-looking sonar, and operating at 5 meters, Sea Wolf conducted an AUV mission in the harbor with a wireless local area network connection. Following this was a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mission with forward-looking sonar, during which the AUV was connected to a fiber-optic cable. The AUV exercise found 12 objects, which were subsequently identified by the ROV.
here is the link
AUVs Target Unconventional Threats | AVIATION WEEK
