Boeing UUV Indicates Compatibility, Utility with Navy Subs

Boeing has completed a second round of at-sea tests of its Long-term Mine Reconnaissance System (LMRS), a 20-foot unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) designed to be launched, torpedo-style, from Los Angeles- and Virginia-class submarines to survey underwater objects for up to 60 hours. Originally planned for use in detecting tethered and bottom mines, the vehicle is designed to gather data and, upon completion, to home and dock to the submarine's 60-foot robotic arm for recovery back through the torpedo launch tube, enabling operators to retrieve data collected and prepare the vehicle for another launch. The vehicle's intelligence gathering capabilities have been sequentially tested and validated. Most recently, repeated homing tests were conducted with slightly varied configurations to the LMRS vehicle. The tests concluded with an LMRS vehicle successfully docking with the submarine. During the first series of tests conducted in September 2005, the LMRS successfully performed a full impulse launch, transited away to a station-keeping location and trailed the submarine. It was then commanded to the surface for recovery. (Source: UVOnline.com)