The Knifefish unmanned underwater vehicle designed for hunting mines as part of the mine countermeasures mission module for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships is scheduled for a first round of sea testing this summer.
General Dynamics [GD], which is developing the Knifefish for the Navy, has been building the first UUV and testing the sensors for detecting mines. It has been working through technical issues in moving from prototyping phase to production, said Tom Mason, the senior program manager for Knifefish at the company’s Advanced Information Systems unit.
The Knifefish carries a transmit array to communicate with the ship and sonar to look for mines while allowing sailors to avoid the risks associated with entering minefields. It will operate beside the Remote Minehunting System being developed by Lockheed Martin [LMT] and that is also part of the mine countermeasures module.
The Knifefish can detect and classify mines below or at the water line, but is uniquely suited to go deep to find buried mines. It stores the data that is recovered once it returns to the ship.
Mason said the at-sea testing will take place in Boston and it will be launched from a small boat. The testing will examine its performance in the water and to ensure it navigates its planned route and depth and carries out simulated missions.
The UUV will be loaded with its payload for subsequent testing later this year, he said. The battery-powered Knifefish successfully completed critical design review in January 2013 and General Dynamics has continued to work through the system to reduce risk, Mason said.
The mine countermeasures package is one of three modules under development for the LCS. The other two are surface and anti-submarine warfare.