Fast Moving Drone Boat Speeds Detection of Sea Mines in Recent Test - Northrop Grumman
A remote controlled unmanned speed boat equipped with a mine-hunting sensor has shown the ability to detect, identify and classify underwater explosives, thereby shortening the time needed to complete a mine clearing operation, the defense contractor Northrop Grumman said in a press release on Monday.
"The Northrop Grumman remote controlled Mine Hunting Unmanned Surface Vessel (MHU), with the AQS-24B mine hunting sensor, demonstrated a safe standoff mine hunting and undersea surveillance capability targeted at addressing three key aspects of the mine warfare challenge: reducing the mine clearance timeline; accurate detection, localization, classification and identification of undersea objects of interest; and improving crew safety by keeping the sailor out of the minefield," the release said.
The assessment followed a recent demonstration of the MHU during the Autonomous Warrior 2018 exercise that was sponsored by the Royal Australian Navy in Jervis Bay, Australia, the release said.
At operational speeds significantly higher than other mine hunting systems on the market, the AQS-24B sensor mounted on an unmanned speed boat successfully completed a number of scenarios and challenges that were set by the Royal Australian Navy's exercise command task group, the release added.