General Dynamics to develop countermine UUV
General Dynamics Advanced Informational Systems (GD AIS) has been awarded an $86.7 million contract by the US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command for the design and development of a Surface Mine Countermeasure Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (SMCM UUV) system. According to General Dynamics, the system will initially form part of the Littoral Combat Ship Mine Warfare mission package being developed by the company for the Littoral Combat Ship fleet for the US Navy.
According to the company, the SMCM UUV system will allow Navy commanders and sailors to reliably detect and identify mines in high-clutter underwater environments in a single pass, including mines that are suspended in the ocean, resting on the sea floor or buried. Additionally, it will gather environmental data that can provide intelligence support for other mine warfare systems.
General Dynamics will ‘use an open systems architecture approach to ensure the SMCM UUV will have the flexibility to be integrated into missions on Littoral Combat Ships, as well as other ship types’. The design will focus on the Navy’s evolving and dynamic mission requirements, ‘plug and play’ integration for ship systems and mission modules, and the capability to quickly reconfigure the ship to meet changing mission requirements.
The contract covers one Engineering Development Model (EDM) and five low-rate initial production systems if all options are exercised.
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