Back to news

April 20, 2018 | International, Naval

New undersea drones are smaller, cheaper and can be refueled deep under water

By:

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Bright yellow underwater drones were a visible highlight on the exhibition floor here at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition.

Among the autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) featured: a new high-speed, micro-sized vehicle by Hydroid and a subsea drone refueling station by Teledyne Energy.

Hydroid's Remus M3V is substantially smaller than previous models. With a compact, A-size (36-inch long, 4.875-inch diameter) envelope and no fins or appendages, the vehicle can achieve speeds of more than 10 knots and dive up to 300 meters. It can be used in search and survey; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR); and multivehicle missions.

With its variable center of gravity, the Remus M3V can also operate in buoy mode. Its key marketing points are its small size, low cost and compatibility with existing AUV operating systems.

“The Navy always wants more with less,” said Justin S. Reid, business development manager at Hydroid. “They want a smaller vehicle that can do the same things as a larger vehicle, and also the price point to match it.”

Teledyne Energy featured its untethered subsea power station at the exposition, along with its Gavia AUV. The Gavia can perform side-scan sonar operations to capture images of the sea floor. It is intended to travel ahead of Navy fleets and transmit oceanographic data back to the vessels.

Teledyne's subsea power station can remotely refuel the Gavia and other underwater vehicles. Deployable via ship or helicopter, the fuel cell system has an energy storage of 200 kilowatt-hours and an operating depth of 3,000 meters.

Teledyne will demonstrate the subsea power station at the Navy's Advanced Naval Technology Exercise in August.

Get more news from the expo here.

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/navy-league/2018/04/10/new-undersea-drones-are-smaller-cheaper-and-can-be-refueled-deep-under-water/

On the same subject

  • Japan confirms it’s scrapping US missile defense system

    June 26, 2020 | International, Land

    Japan confirms it’s scrapping US missile defense system

    By: Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press TOKYO — Japan's National Security Council has endorsed plans to cancel the deployment of two costly land-based U.S. missile defense systems aimed at bolstering the country's capability against threats from North Korea, the country's defense minister said Thursday. Taro Kono said the country will now revise its missile defense program and scale up its entire defense posture. The council made its decision Wednesday, and now the government will need to enter negotiations with the U.S. about what to do with payments and the purchase contract already made for the Aegis Ashore systems. Kono announced the plan to scrap the systems earlier this month after it was found that the safety of one of the two planned host communities could not be ensured without a hardware redesign that would be too time consuming and costly. “We couldn't move forward with this project, but still there are threats from North Korea,” Kono said at a news conference Thursday. Japan will discuss ways to better protect the country and the people from the North's missiles and other threats, he said. The Japanese government in 2017 approved adding the two Aegis Ashore systems to enhance the country's current defenses consisting of Aegis-equipped destroyers at sea and Patriot missiles on land. Defense officials have said the two Aegis Ashore units could cover Japan entirely from one station at Yamaguchi in the south and another at Akita in the north. The plan to deploy the two systems already had faced a series of setbacks, including questions about the selection of one of the sites, repeated cost estimate hikes that climbed to 450 billion yen (U.S. $4.1 billion) for their 30-year operation and maintenance, and safety concerns that led to local opposition. Kono said Japan has signed contract worth nearly half the total cost and paid part of it to the U.S. He said Japan is trying to get the most out of what it has already paid, though he did not elaborate. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has steadily pushed to step up Japan's defense capability, said last week that in light of the scrapping the government would need to reconsider Japan's missile defense program and do more under the country's security alliance with the U.S. Abe said the government would consider the possibility of acquiring preemptive strike capability, a controversial plan that critics say would violate Japan's war-renouncing Constitution. Kono on Thursday also raised concern about China's increasingly assertive activity in regional seas and skies. He said Chinese coast guard vessels are repeatedly in and out of Japanese waters around disputed East China Sea islands, and a Chinese submarine recently passed just off Japan's southern coast. “China is trying to change the status quo unilaterally in East China Sea, South China Sea and with Indian border and Hong Kong as well,” Kono said. “It is easy to make connections about those issues.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/06/25/japan-confirms-its-scrapping-us-missile-defense-system/

  • The Air Force Skyborg AI Flight Program is Getting Smarter, Stealthier

    July 6, 2021 | International, C4ISR, Security

    The Air Force Skyborg AI Flight Program is Getting Smarter, Stealthier

    The artificial intelligence piloting program is rapidly gaining experience and could fly alongside manned pilots in the not-so-distant future.

  • US Air Force downselects Northrop Grumman for F-16 electronic warfare suite

    January 15, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    US Air Force downselects Northrop Grumman for F-16 electronic warfare suite

    by Pat Host The US Air Force (USAF) has downselected Northrop Grumman as the sole contractor to complete final project efforts to provide the electronic warfare (EW) suite for the service's Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet. Northrop Grumman spokesman Stephen Lamb said on 11 January that the company was selected in 2019 to develop a prototype internally mounted EW suite and digital radar warning receiver for F-16s. Northrop Grumman, he said, is performing on this contract. L3Harris was also competing under this contract. However, L3Harris spokesperson Kristin Jones said on 12 January that the company was not selected to move forward. This EW suite will protect pilots from radio frequency (RF)-guided weapons by detecting, identifying, and defeating advanced threat systems, according to a company statement. Northrop Grumman's solution uses common building blocks and architecture. Lamb said the company has combined its ultra wideband radar warning receiver technology with a lightweight processor and digital transmitter modules to provide effective protection. Northrop Grumman will deliver and demonstrate a safety of flight-qualified prototype to meet customer requirements under this other transaction agreement (OTA) contract, and is working toward its fielding. Lamb said the OTA period of performance ends in mid-2021. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-air-force-downselects-northrop-grumman-for-f-16-electronic-warfare-suite

All news