Navy Patent SNARE Propeller Entangler

The small naval arresting rope entangler, or SNARE, helps stop boats from evading military & law enforcement inspections by entangling the craft's propellers.

SNARE was designed by a team of engineers from NSWC Carderock, NSWC Dahlgren and the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center.

"For our part in the project, Carderock engineers designed and built a test bed for evaluating various concepts, developed concepts to test and conducted model scale tests," said project manager Kedric Eisenberg. "Engineers from Dahlgren and the U.S. Coast Guard also consulted on the project, provided past propeller-entanglement device experiences and identified current threats."

The system fielded prior to SNARE was the running gear entanglement system, which, according to Eisenberg, worked well as a static barrier, but lost efficiency when launched from a platform.

"We designed SNARE to more effectively stop fast boats. Our system can be deployed by a launcher, but also has the capability to be an underwater barrier," said Eisenberg.

SNARE is currently being evaluated by the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies.

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) warfare centers were awarded 135 of the Navy's 320 patents in 2012. A field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command, NSWC Carderock Division's responsibilities span a broad range including science and technology, research and development, test and evaluation, product delivery and fleet support.