Undersea Systems News

DARPA’s NOMARS program aims to revolutionize naval operations by designing a ship that can operate autonomously for extended periods at sea without an onboard crew.One project at the forefront of maritime innovation is the development of a vessel called “Defiant,” a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Defiant is referred to as a NOMARS vessel – “No Manning Required Ship.”The project’s been underway at least since January 2020, when DARPA held a “proposers day…

In the early morning hours of September 26, 2022, seismologists located throughout northern Europe detected two disturbances originating in the Baltic Sea that were consistent with underwater explosions. Within hours, an aerial image captured by a passing Danish F-16 showed an expanse of frothy seawater, suggesting that the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines had experienced a catastrophic event. Within days, an investigation by the Swedish Security Service concluded that both pipelines had sustained extensive damage due to an act of gross sabotage.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. is hashing out a plan to acquire up to 10 additional polar icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard.Trump, who over the years has emphasized his administration's commitment to growing the Coast Guard's icebreaker fleet, outlined the new plans in vague terms within remarks delivered at Southern Command headquarters in Doral, Fla., Friday.The President did not specify how the icebreakers would be obtained, or whether the vessels would be newbuilds…

Driven by the need to organically protect maritime Task Groups from the threat of sea mines, the Royal Australian Navy is introducing a deployable Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) capability under the first phase of Project SEA 1778.The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) SEA 1778 deployable Mine Counter-Measures (MCM) capability is both a small step forward in the spiral development process and a “technological leap” into autonomy.”The RAN is looking to replace its four legacy Huon-class minehunter coastal ships (MHCs) with a new deployable MCM capability.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Camber Corporation and formed a new operating division, HII Technical Solutions. The new division will be led by Andy Green, who will serve as an executive vice president of HII and president of HII Technical Solutions, reporting directly to HII President and CEO Mike Petters. “The acquisition of Camber and the consolidation of our existing service businesses into a dedicated division provides the breadth and scale necessary to successfully pursue numerous growth opportunities,” Petters said. “Camber brings a broad array of capabilities to the HII team, and we are excited about the possibilities of growing the combined businesses.

General Dynamics Mission Systems featured the Bluefin Robotics hovering-autonomous underwater vehicle (H-AUV) at OCEANS 2016 in Monterey, California. The Bluefin Robotics H-AUV locates, identifies and maps structural issues on a ship’s hull including large ocean going cargo ships, petroleum and chemical tankers, cruise ships and military surface and sub-surface vessels without dry-docking the ship. “Inspecting ship hulls and other underwater surfaces can be a manpower- and cost-intensive part of a ship’s observation and maintenance,” said Matt Graziano, director of Autonomous Undersea Systems for General Dynamics Mission Systems. The Bluefin Robotics H-AUV operates autonomously and navigates along a hull, bridges or piers.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) delivered the first of three lots of mine hunting sonar upgrade kits to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division. The ultimate end users will be the HM-12, -14 and -15 Mine Countermeasures Squadrons. The production contracts from the Navy’s PMS-495 are for upgrading 27 AQS-24A mine hunting systems into the more advanced AQS-24B system. The kits contain all the components necessary to upgrade the existing 27 AQS-24A mine hunting systems into the more advanced AQS-24B system. Work is being done in three production lots.

Harris Corp received a $15 million, 4 year follow-on contract to provide acoustic sensors for installation on the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-class submarines. The sensors are designed to facilitate data sharing between the LWWAA system and the submarine’s combat platform for monitoring of ships and other vessels. Jim Brunelle, director of undersea systems business at Harris, said the 10 new systems will accompany the 18 acoustic assemblies Harris has already delivered to the Navy for use on its submarines. "These latest systems will join the 18 ship sets the company has already supplied for the Navy's newest and most capable submarines," said Jim Brunelle, director, Harris Undersea Systems business.

Capt. Gregg Baumann assumed command from Capt. Mark Matthews as the Director of Ocean Engineering, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), Naval Sea Systems Command announced. Baumann reports to SUPSALV after serving as program manager for the International Fleet Support Program Office. He also served as chief of staff for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Ship Programs, executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research Development and Acquisition and DDG 51 program manager representative.

Dutra Dredging Company, Calif. was awarded a $19,869,500 firm-fixed-price contract for dredging in the Thimble Shoal Federal Navigation Channel and the Cape Henry Federal Navigation Channel, Norfolk Virginia. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity. Austal USA LLC, Mobile, Ala., was awarded an $8,247,342 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-11-C-2301) on Nov. 27, 2013, to exercise an option for littoral combat ship (LCS) core class services. The company will assess engineering and production challenges as well as evaluate the cost and schedule risks from affordability efforts to reduce LCS acquisition and lifecycle costs. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (60 percent), and Pittsfield, Mass.

Company Demonstrates 100Gb/s-Based Transmission at 10Tb/s per Fiber Pair with First Generation Coherent Transmission Equipment. TE SubCom, a TE Connectivity Ltd. Company and an industry pioneer in undersea communications technology, today announced it has successfully demonstrated 100Gb/s coherent transmission over trans-Atlantic distances at ultra-high 10Tb/s total capacity on a single fiber. The test was completed using a prototype of the company’s new, first generation smarTEr C100 transceiver. “This significant customer demonstration builds on a 60-year track record of commitment to specialized, long-haul undersea transmission research and development and success in delivering capacity-record-setting undersea cable systems,” said David Coughlan, CEO, TE SubCom.

The Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System's (SRDRS) Rescue Capable System (RCS) replaced the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Mystic (DSRV-1) as the U.S. Navy's deep-submergence submarine rescue asset on Sept. 30. Mystic and the DSRV program began deactivation on Oct. SRDRS is a rapidly deployable rescue asset that can be delivered by air or ground, installed on pre-screened military or commercial vessels of opportunity (VOO) via a ship interface template, and mated to a distressed submarine within a 72-hour time to first rescue period. Mystic is a small rescue submarine capable of deploying via air or ground to a port where it is mated to a specially-configured submarine which serves as the host platform for the voyage to the disabled submarine.

Offshore Systems Ltd said its sister company, CHI Systems, OSI Geospatial’s US Operations, signed a $925,000 contract with Lockheed Martin’s Undersea Systems business unit to supply the Brazilian Navy with 6 ECPINS submarine navigations systems. These systems will be integrated into Lockheed Martin’s Submarine Integrated Combat Systems (ICS) that will be delivered to the Brazilian Navy.

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems announced the successful completion of the first Critical Item Test (CIT) required for development and fielding of the AN/WLD-1(V)1 Remote Minehunting System. AN/WLD-1(V)1 is being developed by Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems-Undersea Systems (NE&SS-Undersea Systems) in Syracuse and Riviera Beach, Fla., under a contract awarded in December, 1999 by the U.S. Navy. It will provide Arleigh Burke Class DDG-51 Flight IIA ships with its first-ever offboard mine reconnaissance capability. Key elements of AN/WLD-1(V)1 include a diesel-powered, semi-submersible Remote Minehunting Vehicle (RMV) with a deployable Variable Depth Sensor (VDS), line of sight and over-the-horizon real-time data links and a shipboard launch and recovery subsystem.

controllable, high-speed underwater transport. and evaluation program to establish the potential of a new technology. the water, thereby reducing drag and increasing vehicle speed. specialized military cargo at speeds up to 100 knots. vehicle. University's Applied Research Laboratory in State College, Pa. Mass. and Technology business unit. The contract comes with two 15-month options. scale and establish the detailed design of the demonstrator vehicle. would operate at 100 knots for durations of up to 10 minutes. potential value of all three phases is $45.8 million.

A team led by Northrop Grumman Corporation has won a $5.4 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to determine the feasibility of using supercavitation technology for stable, controllable, high-speed underwater transport. The Underwater Express program is a DARPA technology research and evaluation program to establish the potential of a new technology. Supercavitation creates a gas cavity between the vehicle surface and the water, thereby reducing drag and increasing vehicle speed. The program's ultimate goal is a new class of underwater craft for littoral missions that can transport small groups of Navy personnel or specialized military cargo at speeds up to 100 knots.

As the first two Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) seaframes are taking shape, the first mission packages are being assembled and tested at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Panama City, Fla. LCS will be a reconfigurable, focused-mission ship that employs modular mission packages to counter anti-access threats in the littoral from mines, submarines and small, fast attack boats. “It has a very focused mission in a particular operating environment against very specific threats,” said Capt. Walt Wright, program manager for LCS Mission Modules in the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Littoral and Mine Warfare. “We’re bringing a large number of individual systems primarily focused on unmanned platforms -- unmanned underwater vehicles…

According to reports, International Positioning and Undersea Systems Technology Company this week landed a second major order with a Far East rig builder. Nautronix secured a multi million dollar order from Keppel FELS Ltd for the supply of systems for an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible drilling rig. The vessel is under construction for ENSCO International Incorporated and it will be the second to bear Nautronix equipment - the company secured a contract for the ENSCO 8500 at the end of 2005. The latest order is for the ENSCO 8501, which is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2009 for mobilization to the Gulf of Mexico.

Two business units of General Dynamics - Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works - have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (CDNSWC). The MOA calls for the three organizations to explore more effective and affordable methods of research, development, testing and evaluation of surface and undersea systems. Electric Boat and Bath Iron Works are major suppliers of submarines and surface combatants for the U.S. Navy. Carderock Division is the Navy's principal maritime research center for surface ship and submarine systems.

Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) has awarded Anteon a five-year contract valued at $23.6 million. Under this contract, Anteon will provide systems engineering and development support for NUWC's Communications and Electronic Support Measures Programs. The work will be performed in Newport, R.I., and Mystic, Conn. The NUWC provides the technical foundation for the conceptualization, research and development, modernization and maintenance of U.S. Navy undersea systems. Specific programs to be supported under this contract include the Common Submarine Radio Room, Submarine Satellite Communications Program, High Data Rate (HDR) Submarine Antenna, Multi-Function Mast Antenna and the Extremely Low Frequency Program. Joseph M.