Unmanned Surface Vehicles Autonomously Detect and Track a Live Submarine
During the exercise Unmanned Warrior recently conducted in the UK, Liquid Robotics and Boeing demonstrated the use of the Wave Gliders, to successfully detect and track a manned diesel submarine.
Four Wave Gliders were deployed in the Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARCs®) configuration off the coast of Northern Scotland during the exercise Unmanned Warrior 2016. The Wave Gliders used advanced being acoustic sensors in live anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions. Demonstrations of tracking of an advanced unmanned underwater vehicle were also conducted.
The SHARCs provided detailed and actionable intelligence to commanders through more than 100 automated contact reports, proving the USVs efficacy to autonomously conduct ASW missions and exchange data in real-time.
In addition to the ASW mission, two SHARCs equipped with meteorological and oceanographic sensors were deployed to the North Atlantic to gather data that ultimately contributed to sensor prediction for Unmanned Warrior and Joint Warrior, a major bi-annual collective training exercise, hosted by the Royal Navy. The SHARCs operated 24/7 in harsh conditions unfavourable for manned operations – waves in excess of 6.6 meters and winds greater than 60 knots – to autonomously provide real-time data on the weather and ocean conditions critical to the safe operation of the Unmanned Warrior systems.
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