Page 10: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2023)

MILESTONE BLUEFIN CELEBRATES 25 cy broadband (LFBB) sonar. LFBB’s capabilities have been op- SEA1778 expeditionary mine-countermeasures program. erationalized on the Navy’s Knife? sh system, which is a critical Like the Blue? n-21s, the smaller UUVs also have a free- element for the Littoral Combat Ship’s mine countermeasures ? ooding design and can accommodate a broad spectrum of mission package. The NATO Science and Technology Orga- sensors and power options. nization Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation “While Blue? n-9 and Blue? n-12 are very adept in that ex- (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, has also modi? ed a pair of autono- peditionary context, they and other small UUVs simply lack mous Blue? n-21 UUVs)— the Minehunting UUV for Shallow the physical volume to practically address the requirements

Water Covert Littoral Expeditions (MUSCLE) experimentation of larger scale operations – requirements like endurance, op- platform and “Black CAT”—for CMRE’s Distributed and De- erating depth and payload capacity,” Guay said. “The perfor- coupled (D2) Collaborative Autonomy Framework (D2CAF) mance of a single Blue? n-21 obviates the need for several system. Phoenix International Holdings Inc., used a Blue? n-21 smaller systems, and one or two Blue? n-21s can accomplish known as “Artemis” to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines the same mission as much larger platforms with less complex-

Flight 370 Boeing 777 that disappeared in 2014. ity, at a fraction of the price.” “The Blue? n-21 strikes an optimal balance between size, As Knife? sh production ramps up, the company has moved speed, endurance, payload capacity, and price,” said Guay. the assembly line from Quincy to its new UUV center of ex- “Its modular design allows it to be broken down into transit cellence at Taunton, Mass. Guay said the waterfront facility in cases, rapidly air shippable to hotspots across the globe in a Quincy is now exclusively dedicated to advanced research and matter of hours. Add in its full-ocean-depth operating capabil- development and rapid prototyping of UUVs and other novel, ity and you have a truly worldwide asset, deployable from any autonomous maritime systems.

number of vessels of opportunity.” “We’ve totally modernized our production capabilities to

The new Blue? n-9 and Blue? n-12 “clean sheet” UUV designs, meet the increasing demands for our unmanned systems today are being currently evaluated by the Royal Australian Navy’s and in the future,” Guay said. “These complementary centers

At ICEX 2020, MIT partnered with

General Dynamics to demonstrate new navigation technologies by deploying the Blue? n-21 Macrura UUV under a six- foot-thick sheet of ice.

A 3D-image of shipwreck in Boston Harbor captured by a Blue? n-9 UUV using a

Sonardyne Solstice Multi-

Aperture Sonar.

Dan McDonald, General Dynamics Mission Systems General Dynamics Mission Systems

MUSCLE

Autonomous

Underwater Vehicle

Deployment

CMRE 10 May/June 2023

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