Page 46: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2007)

46 MTR July 2007

Boeing - Marine Systems 1145 Ocean Circle (MC: 031-EA01)

Anaheim, CA 92806-1911

Tel: (714) 762-5838; Fax: (714) 762-0661

Email: [email protected] http://www.boeing.com/defense- space/ic/sis/ais/marine.html

CEO: Jim McNerney

President, Integrated Defense

Systems: Jim Albaugh

Director, Advanced Information

Systems: Dan Jones

Engineering Director, AIS-Marine

Systems: Tom Drury

Facilities: Located on Boeing's Anaheim campus,

Marine Systems occupies two buildings which include engineering and support offices, high capacity computer networks, and test, integration and manufacturing areas including high bay test areas with 10- and 40-ton cranes.

Square Footage: Boeing AIS has over 200,000 sq ft of engineering, test, integration and production space, of which 40,000 sq ft is dedicated to undersea programs.

Testing Capabilities: In addition to the above,

Marine Systems' footprint includes certified battery recharging facilities, a 10,000 psi test chamber, and a 120'L x 90'W x 33'D test pool which is enclosed to handle various levels of security.

Number of Employees: 180

Annual Sales: $80 million

Within Boeing's Space and

Intelligence Systems, Advanced

Information Systems (AIS) resides

Marine Systems - Boeing's organiza- tion for core expertise in undersea systems. Formerly part of Rockwell

International, Marine Systems has produced more than 36 undersea sys- tems during its 40-year history. The expertise gained from this legacy includes submarine systems integra- tion, autonomous software, complex low power systems design, launch and recovery design, mission/sortie plan- ning, open systems command and control, real-time/faster-than-real- time simulation, undersea systems networking, and acoustic processing, to name only a portion of their tech- nical disciplines.

A sampling of early programs in the 1960's and '70 does include the

Dolphin UUV, Powered Underwater

Research Vehicle (PURV) and Beaver.

A few of their other milestone pro- grams were MK40, Unmanned Free

Swimming Submersible (UFSS), and the initial Remote Mine Operational

Prototype (RMOP).

In parallel with the vehicle design,

Boeing has invested in development of high-level, fault-tol- erant autonomous software. Current field-tested and operational systems include the Navy's

AN/BLQ-11 (mine survey AUV) and the Echo Ranger

LDUUV (recently transitioned from commercial surveying to a DoD development testbed). Marine

Systems' acoustic processing heritage is also impressive with over 30 years of providing hardware, software and interface design for airborne, shore based and shipboard acoustic process- ing. Current programs include the analyzer subunit (ASU) of the USQ- 78B for the P-3 Orion and the acoustic processing suite for the P-8A

Poseidon. Combined, these two pro- grams provide sonobuoy acoustic processing for all US Navy fixed-wing

ASW aircraft. Technology Profile:

The AN/BLQ-11 autonomous

Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) provides the US Navy with a covert mine countermeasure capability that can be launched and recovered through the submarine's torpedo tube while underway. It is currently the US Navy's only submarine-quali- fied 21-in. heavyweight vehicle. The autonomous UUV carries multiple sonar and navigation systems and control software for the mine recon- naissance mission. The BLQ-11 sys- tem is a temporary alteration (TEM-

PALT) and the vehicles and ship- board deployed equipment is all han- dled and loaded like a torpedo.

In January, 2006 several UUV "firsts" were accomplished including full impulse torpedo tube launch, repetitive helo recovery, following an

SSN through 180-degree turns, and successful docking to an SSN while underway. Upcoming SSN tests in

September, aboard the USS HART-

FORD, will validate the system robustness through repeated launch and recovery (L&R).

AN/BLQ-11's sister vehicle is Echo

Ranger, an autonomous large dis- placement unmanned undersea vehi- cle (LDUUV). This COTS-designed system with a maximum operating depth of 3000 meters and 28-hour endurance has logged over 2000 miles in tests and surveys. Currently, Echo

Ranger is transitioning from com- mercial survey missions to an opera- tional LDUUV testbed for Marine

Systems' government customers.

Field testing of the AN/BLQ-11 has demonstrated the required level of autonomy, navigational accuracy and mine-like object detection. After suc- cessful end-to-end L&R tests this fall,

BLQ-11 will validate the Navy's plan for a submarine-deployed UUV. As an LDUUV demonstrator, Echo

Ranger will validate open hardware/software architectures and future USW technologies. Marine

Systems sees these as critical steps for- ward in realizing the Navy's UUV

Master Plan.

MTR100MTR100MTR100MTR100MTR100MTR100

WEST COAST NORTH AMERICA

Echo Ranger

MTR#6 (33-48).qxd 7/13/2007 10:35 AM Page 46