Unmanned Survey and Surveillance Vehicles

Semi-submersible technology offers robust sensor deployment capability for commercial hydrographic surveys, advanced marine academic research initiatives and a range of military applications.

An unmanned semi-submersible such as the ASV-6300 reduces operating costs and eliminates the safety concerns associated with a crew. This allows for more rapid and mobile deployment, round-the-clock operations and a higher tolerance for adverse weather and sea conditions at a fraction of the cost of a manned vessel.

The design of an unmanned survey and surveillance craft offers superior sea-keeping over a similarly equipped manned vessel with competitive speed performance. The semi-submersible design allows for proven commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) propulsion and the ability to employ any number of communication suites, above and below water sensors. The COTS-based design reduces operating expenses and permits the use of widely available spare parts for ease of maintenance.

Because of its superior sea-keeping characteristics, hydrographic data collected by the ASV-6300 is substantially free of motion artifacts and system noise. The resulting increase in data quality provides additional efficiency throughout the entire survey and reporting process. An unmanned semi-submersible can also be equipped with sensors to measure surface temperatures, algae blooms, fish populations and any other ocean phenomena of interest to researchers. Data is transmitted in real time to the control station in autonomous, semi-au-tonomous and directed modes of operation.

An unmanned semi-submersible is highly adaptable for national security applications including disaster response, environmental monitoring, fisheries monitoring and protection, harbor surveillance and security, route surveys and route conditioning, naval mine war fare, ISR, EW, persistent ASW surveillance, special operations support, amphibious operations support and other mission areas. Proven control software, low maintenance and operating costs and ease of deployment make the USS a reliable asset for a wide variety of national taskings.

Vehicles