US UUV/AUV Projects (Unmanned/autonomous underwater vehicle)

bobbymike

bobbymike

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Sorry it's a UUV

https://news.usni.org/2017/04/04/navy-splits-lduuv-into-rapid-acquisition-program-at-peo-lcs-rd-effort-at-onr
 
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/06/biggest-us-shipbuilder-working-with-boeing-on-large-unmanned-underwater-drones.html
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/09/15/robot-submarines-could-soon-be-used-to-spy-on-americas-enemies/
 
https://news.usni.org/2017/09/21/navy-racing-test-field-unmanned-maritime-vehicles-future-ships
 
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/11/new-underwater-and-aerial-drones-sensors-small-satellites-mean-exposed-stealth-planes-and-submarines.html
 
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/05/us-military-funding-giant-transformer-robot-sub/147898/?oref=defenseone_today_nl

DENVER, Colorado — Want to de-mine a patch of ocean floor in hostile waters, deposit classified payloads off an enemy coast, shut off a broken oil valve, or just fight krakens? Texas-based startup Houston Mechatronics on Tuesday unveiled a giant, transforming robotic submarine, partially backed by the Defense Department, for deep-sea precision missions.

The Aquanaut unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, can chug beneath the ocean’s surface for hundreds of kilometers and then transform into a vaguely insect-like robot to perform delicate operations in the watery depths. Its biggest backers are players in the oil and gas exploration like Transocean, which are looking to better maintain oil rigs, offshore equipment, and help with operations. Houston Mechatronics co-founder and chief technical officer Nicholas Radford said the robots might would travel from site to site, like a frog swimming from one lily pad to another without ever having to be pulled out of the water. “‘We intend to blanket the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
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Manganese nodules. Just sayin’.
 
https://news.usni.org/2018/06/05/navys-knifefish-unmanned-mine-hunter-passes-key-test

The Navy’s Knifefish unmanned undersea vehicle, a key component of the Littoral Combat Ship’s mine-hunting capability, successfully completed sea acceptance testing off the coast of Massachusetts.

The Knifefish, built by General Dynamics and based on the Bluefin Robotics Bluefin-21 deep-water Autonomous Undersea Vehicle, is a self-propelled, untethered vehicle designed to hunt for mines without requiring an LCS or other manned ship to enter a minefield.

By successfully completing the sea acceptance testing, the program now moves to the next phase of development – developmental test and operational assessment – according to General Dynamics.

“These tests prove the Knifefish system can detect, classify and identify undersea mines in high-clutter environments,” Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Mission Systems, said in a statement.
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Actually a story about a $22 Billion ship wreck discovery. The jackpot comes in the form of the Spanish galleon San Jose which sunk with 11 million gold coins along with jewelry and silver. The ship is located in Columbian waters but because it was a Spanish ship, Spain is making a claim along with a private company.

Just as a side note, at current $1950/oz prices for gold, this amounts to a pile of about 30 gold bars on each side and weighing about 700,000 lbs. A bar of gold is about 28 lbs and 7 inch by 3.6 inch by 1.75 inch.


 
Since this seems to have become the default USV thread as well; regarding NOMARS, from back in 2020:
bobbymike said:
news.usni.org

DARPA Testing the Limits of Unmanned Ships in New NOMARS Program - USNI News

As the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) explores designs for a ship that could operate without humans aboard, the agency is keeping the Navy involved in the effort to ensure it progresses forward should the program’s work succeed. While the Navy is creating unmanned surface...
news.usni.org news.usni.org
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www.popularmechanics.com

The U.S. Navy Wants To Fill Its Fleet With Robo-Ships

The NOMARS ships would be entirely unmanned and totally impervious to pandemics.
www.popularmechanics.com www.popularmechanics.com
www.c4isrnet.com

Here’s the DARPA project it says could pull the Navy a decade forward in unmanned technology

DARPA's NOMARS project could be a giant leap forward for the US Navy's unmanned aspirations.
www.c4isrnet.com www.c4isrnet.com
 
www.navalnews.com

U.S. Navy christens first Snakehead LDUUV prototype - Naval News

A U.S. Navy team led by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) conducted a vehicle christening for the first Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV) prototype Feb. 2 at the...
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
 
Amazing how exotically different a vessel's appearance can be when the need for human support systems like bridge and crew quarters doesn't need to be taken into account. A radical departure from... other USV's that don't look that different from a manned tug.

www.navalnews.com

DARPA to Build, Test, Demonstrate First NOMARS USV - Naval News

DARPA is moving into Phase 2 of the No Manning Required Ship (NOMARS) program, which seeks to build and demonstrate a revolutionary new medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) that can go to sea and perform missions with unprecedented reliability and availability, while carrying a significant payload.
www.navalnews.com www.navalnews.com
NOMARS-MUSV-DARPA-scaled.jpg
 
Maybe I am getting too old, but to me "the requirement that there will never be a human on board the vessel while it is at sea" sounds like a terrible idea begging for disasters.

At sea, stuff happens, and at war even more so. "Never a human on board" is certainly not the right recipe, even if we can understand its value as a marketing positionning point.
 

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