Angler programme proceeds with ‘weapon technology’ contract
The USV would be capable of operating autonomously to manipulate objects on the seabed
Advanced Acoustic Concepts has won work on the Angler USV programme under a competitively awarded $9.32 million Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) contract from US Office of Naval Research.
The BAA for Navy and Marine Corps Science & Technology includes design and development, fabrication, assembly, integration and test and operational utility assessment of a ‘weapon technology that is capable of operating in a deep-water environment’, the DoD noted on 1 December.
Work will be performed in Haupauge, New York, with an estimated completion date of 2 November 2022.
As envisaged by DARPA in a January 2019 solicitation, Angler is ‘an autonomous undersea robot capable of transiting large distances and physically manipulating objects on the seabed with no communications or human intervention’.
The USV would use an onboard sensor suite to ‘self-localise, avoid obstacles, manage interaction with the seabed environment, and fulfill manipulation mission objectives. In addition to these navigation and positioning challenges, the robot will be able to perform these search and manipulation objectives autonomously, even in dark, turbulent, and semi-opaque sea conditions’, DARPA added.
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