Low Cost Rapid Mine Clearance System

Abstract

A method and apparatus to clear mines uses tag particles dropped into ambient water across a wide area by an aircraft to sink and stick to submerged mines. The tag particles each contain a gas volume dimensioned to resonate with impinging acoustic energy and reflect portions of the impinging acoustic energy from a targeted mine. An unmanned underwater vehicle platform having a sonar system provided with at least one transducer projects the acoustic energy through the ambient water. At least one hydrophone transducer in the sonar system receives the reflected portions of the projected acoustic energy to locate a targeted mine t enable its destruction by high-energy supercavitating' projectiles fired from the platform. Tag particles dissolve after a period of time to provide virtually no discernable traces of a mine hunting operation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 10, 2002
Accession Number
ADD020091

Entities

People

  • Robert Kuklinski

Organizations

  • United States Department of the Navy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Detectors
  • Aircrafts
  • Clearances
  • Control Surfaces
  • Control Systems
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Energy
  • High Energy
  • Hydrophones
  • Optical Fibers
  • Projectiles
  • Transducers
  • Underwater Mines
  • Underwater Vehicles
  • Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Engineering.
  • ballistics.

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy