U.S. Navy looks to robotic systems and other enabling technologies for countermeasures against ocean mines
WASHINGTON – Ocean mines are a constant concern in naval warfare. Like their land-based counterparts, they offer adversaries a low-cost means of inflicting potentially catastrophic damage. To counter that, the U.S. Navy is developing several new countermeasure platforms. National Defense magazine reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
17 April 2020 -- While the Navy has traditionally employed expensive, manned aircraft and ships for mine clearing, it is now working on a slew of new robotic systems that can sweep, detect and neutralize the weapons as part of a countermeasure package that will be deployed off the service’s littoral combat ship.
One such system is Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24C mine hunting system, which builds on the company’s AQS-24B mine countermeasures system that was introduced into the Navy’s fleet in 2017 and has been used from the MH-53E helicopter and an unmanned surface vehicle platform.
The towed payload has reached several performance milestones, said Gene Cumm, director of international mine warfare at the company.
Related: Unmanned submarines seen as key to dominating the world’s oceans
Related: Navy ramps-up production of airborne counter-mine systems to neutralize hidden ocean mines
John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics