(U)Small and Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles

Abstract

Small and Medium Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (UUVs) are a segment of the Navy's UUV Family of Systems (FoS) defined as having a diameter between 3 inches and 10 inches for small UUVs and a diameter of 10 inches to 21 inches for medium UUVs. The UUVs can be launched by submarines, surface ships, or larger UUVs, and can be recovered by surface ships and submarines. This class of UUVs can have one or more types of sensors to perform multiple missions including Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPOE), battlespace awareness, and mine warfare. In order to accelerate future capability and support steady growth of the Navy's UUV FoS, the Knifefish Surface Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (SMCM UUV) program develops advanced medium class UUVs to support clandestine mine detection capability against volume, bottom, and buried mines. Equipment includes vehicles and associated systems support equipment. In parallel, Block Upgrade design efforts aligned to Fleet needs, are ongoing to support insertion of incremental capability when the technology is ready. Planned Block Upgrade candidates being considered include increased detection range capability, communications upgrades, on-board sonar processing and target recognition, command and control improvements, increased operational depth, and other smaller tasks, as well as future payloads as required. Littoral Battlespace Sensing - Autonomous Undersea Vehicle Submarine Variant (LBS-AUV(S)), also known as Razorback, is a medium class UUV capable of persistent, autonomous, ocean sensing and data collection in support of Navy Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment (IPOE) mission. Razorback is deployed from host submarines in two variants: from the Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) or from the Torpedo Tube. The DDS deployed Razorback variant has been procured beginning in FY 2017 with Fleet operational deployments planned for FY 2020. Development of requirements and submarine integration efforts commenced in FY 2019 for the torpedo tube deployed variant, which will be competitively sourced to industry by FY 2021. In order to deploy Razorback, or other small or medium class UUVs from a host submarine platform with sufficient endurance to perform a desired mission, high energy density sources such as lithium ion batteries are used. Consequently, safety is paramount and mitigation systems must be in place to prevent or stop a high energy casualty event. SAFECAP is being developed as an active mitigation strategy that includes a shock qualified capsule that aides in the launch and recovery of small and medium sized vehicles through the torpedo tube. It also contains a Battery Casualty Detection System that constantly monitors battery health and status, providing early warning signs of a battery short via an alarm. In the event of a casualty, the capsule and vehicle portion of SAFECAP are flooded via the fire hose connections and the event is extinguished.

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Document Details

Document Type
R2 Budgetary Justification
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2020
Source ID
0604028N_4_1319_PB_2020
Change Summary Explanation
Program Changes: FY 2020 +$9,780K UUV Family of Systems (FoS) realignment Technical: Not applicable. Schedule: Not applicable.
Service Agency Name
Navy

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
  • Command And Control
  • Contracts
  • Detectors
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Fuel Cells
  • High Energy
  • Lithium Ion Batteries
  • Littoral Combat Ships
  • Procurement
  • Product Development
  • Target Recognition
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Torpedo Tubes
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Readers

  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Naval Mine Countermeasure Systems Development.
  • Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Autonomous Capabilities and Mission Reconnaissance.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - UAVs
  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control

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