Unmanned Systems Technology 006 | ECA Inspector Mk2 USV | Antenna systems | Northwest UAV NW-44 | Unmanned ground vehicles | Navigation systems | Lunar X challenge

22 I t is very hard to sell a USV in isolation, says ECA’s USV product manager Vincent Clavier, because customers expect a complete capability. With its Inspector Mk2 though, ECA, based in Toulon, France, has developed such a capability. Much more than a robotic boat, this purpose-built, optionally manned surface vessel is designed to form the core of a capability that encompasses modular onboard sensors and effectors for a wide variety of missions, providing easy reconfiguration, support for and cooperation with other unmanned vehicles and integration into command and control networks. Modular, tailored mission fits offered include equipment for surveillance and protection of coasts, ports, and offshore platforms, mine countermeasures, rapid environmental assessment (REA), support for special operations forces, fire fighting and a mission module that enables larger vessels to launch, operate and recover the USV. ECA is one of a relatively small group of companies to have delivered operational USV systems, Clavier says. In addition to building up operational experience with customers who use them in the field, ECA’s USVs are in service with the French Navy, which uses them to further its knowledge of USV operations in general and sensor systems in particular. All of this has happened in a remarkably short period of time – a little under eight years. With a background in ROVs and UUVs, ECA began USV system development in 2008 with the Inspector Mk1. Based on an existing rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), this enabled the company to concentrate on developing its control system and sensor integration technology, and to develop relationships with customers based on the performance of a first-generation system before progressing to the purpose- designed, aluminium-hulled Inspector Mk2, the first examples of which were Extended February/March 2016 | Unmanned Systems Technology