Unmanned Systems Technology 013 | AutonomouStuff Lincoln MKZ | AI systems | Unmanned Underwater Vehicles | Cosworth AG2 UAV twin | AceCore Neo | Maintenance | IDEX 2017 Show report

47 at Groton, Connecticut, and the Undersea Warfare Training Range in Florida, which is due to open in 2019. France’s DCNS offers a comparable system in the form of the D-19T, which is also based on a 53 cm diameter battery- powered vehicle but with higher claimed maximum endurance and speed figures, of more than 30 hours and more than 25 knots respectively. Also fitted with an extendible tail array, the D-19T comes as a training package that includes a preparation and analysis tool, a portable tracking range consisting of acoustic buoys with radio transmitters, and a stationary target that has most of the vehicle’s capabilities except its mobility and tail. The target can also be used to simulate a countermeasure such as a jammer. Inspection/identification Extra control options in the latest UUVs now include remote operation and autonomy in the same vehicle. For example, Modus Seabed Intervention reported in February this year that it had completed system integration and trials of a hybrid vehicle that can operate as a tethered ROV or an AUV, with the potential to remain at depth for their entire operational lives unless they have to be recovered for repairs. Modus has been working with Saab Dynamics over three years to develop the Sabretooth vehicle for greater endurance speed and advanced sensor payload packages, in addition to the new hybrid operating methods. The companies have also developed two launch and recovery systems consisting of a floating dock for surface- supported operations and a subsea garage that enables ‘full decoupling’ from the support vessel, as the vehicle can navigate into and out of its seabed garage autonomously, paving the way for what they term “full subsea residency” for the life of the oil/gas fields the vehicles support, effectively meaning they will remain in situ permanently. That, says Modus, is part of a roadmap that will define the future capabilities of hybrid AUVs and part of a wider programme to introduce disruptive technologies that will couple new platforms with fully managed services. The evolved Sabretooth has a thruster arrangement that enables it to hover and operate with six degrees of freedom for inspection and light intervention applications. It also features increased thrust for high-speed survey work and more battery capacity for greater endurance in autonomous mode. Initially rated for operations down to 1200 m, it can be upgraded to provide a 3000 m depth capability. Its standard sensor suit includes an Edgetech 2205 combined triple frequency sidescan sonar, a co-located bathymetry and sub-bottom profiler, HD video and stills cameras, an IXBlue Phins3 inertial navigation system, an RDI Workhorse Doppler velocity log and 3D imaging sonars. Optional extras include an R2 Sonic 2024 multi-beam echo Unmanned Systems Technology | April/May 2017 I4 Drone is a new mission management system for monitoring and controlling its D-19T as well as other unmanned vehicles under, on and above the water (Courtesy of DCNS) A hybrid control system enables the Sabretooth UUV to operate as an ROV or an AUV according to mission requirements (Courtesy of Saab)