N121-096 TITLE: Persistent Anchorless Active Sonar Deployable Surface Buoy

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: SWMS User Operational Evaluation System (UOES) proposed by OPNAV N2/N6

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN CITIZENS (i.e., those holding non-U.S. Passports): This topic is "ITAR Restricted". The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120 - 130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign Citizens may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign citizen who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal will be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: Develop an anchorless deployable surface buoy that can provide persistent active sonar operations in excess of two weeks without recourse to mooring.

DESCRIPTION: Several autonomous active sonar processing projects have come to fruition in the last five years, primarily for short duration applications that are intended for deployment from the air. The limited efforts to develop ship-deployable systems that can operate for extended periods have produced successful systems, but persistence was achieved at the expense of deployability. The Navy needs a deployable field of active sonar systems that can be used in all depths of water and achieve tactical anti-submarine control of an area for several weeks.

The persistent anchorless active sonar system should contain a float or small craft for suspension of the sonar arrays, a low-frequency source and receiver array, and on-board processing and communications. The float or small craft must be capable of holding the system on station. The maximum size of the system must be such that two entire units, when made ready for deployment, can fit in a standard ISO shipping container (8'x20'). Achieving this form factor in a persistent station-keeping system is viewed as the primary technical challenge, as the sonar system is likely to contribute significant drag that must be compensated for in the design. The successful proposal must identify the anchorless station-keeping mechanism, provide a workable active sonar design for anti-submarine warfare, and show a notional deployment and retrieval concept for the unit.

PHASE I: The means of providing persistent power and holding station will be identified and the design justified in terms of size, endurance and power output for sonar operations. The successful Phase I project will identify the critical design elements and model all aspects of system operation to show that the design is achievable in practice and could be made suitable for deployment and retrieval from a surface ship..

PHASE II: A persistent anchorless active sonar platform will be constructed, including hotel power, thrusters, navigation and communications for remote control of the system. In this phase, use of a surrogate for the sonar, such as a dummy load and/or representative drag and weight components is acceptable. Once the platform had been developed, a test at sea or in a representative environment will be conducted. The successful Phase II project will result in a tested persistent anchorless active sonar platform that can be readily deployed and retrieved from a surface ship.

PHASE III: The prototype developed in Phase II will be integrated with a suitable active sonar system and used in a trial for detection of targets at sea. The successful Phase III project will, working with acquisition project managers, conduct a full-scale proof-of-concept test of the system including deployment, operation at sea for at least 2 weeks, and retrieval.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Technology developed under this topic will be applicable to persistent instrumentation challenges in ocean monitoring, marine fisheries and deep-sea oil exploration.

REFERENCES:
1. Curcio, J., McGillivary, P., Fall, K., Maffei, A., Schwehr, K., Twiggs, B., Kitts, C., & Ballou, P., "Self-Positioning Smart Buoys, The �Un-Buoy� Solution: Logistic Considerations using Autonomous Surface Craft Technology and Improved Communications Infrastructure," Proceedings of IEEE Oceans 2006, 2006.

2. Curtin, T., Crimmins, D., Curcio, J., Benjamin, M.,Roper, C., Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: Trends and Transformations," The Marine Technology Society Journal, vol 39, number 3, 2005.

KEYWORDS: Active sonar; persistence; anti-submarine warfare; deployable systems

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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