66 Insight | USVs Defence As conflicts and other border concerns around the world growmore severe, so are a growing number of countries turning to uncrewed systems as a force multiplier or gap filler for guarding strategic maritime resources. Seeing that need, L3Harris’ portfolio of USVs (or ASVs, its preferred term) has grown significantly over the years, for defence as well as related applications. Most recently it has taken on defencerelated missions in the Middle East, enabling it to optimise its uncrewed vessels through real-world trials and operational data. “Our Shadowfox USV for instance is a 13 m aluminium vessel, which is an evolution of the MAST-13 platform,” explains James Cowles, senior business development manager with L3Harris, who works at the unit that produces its USVs. “One MAST-13 unit is in service with the Royal Navy’s accelerator, NaxyX, while another is with Dstl [the UK government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory]. We also have an 11 m GRP platform operating with the [Royal Navy’s] Taskforce 59 in Bahrain.” Although a lot of work goes into its USVs, L3Harris still considers the ASView control software as its core product. It has been developing it since 2008, and the eighth generation of it is due to be released soon. “While some things, like sensor integrations into our autonomy software, have become simpler over the years as sensors have advanced, the big developments we’re looking at are around control – how the human interacts with our solution and how robust it is,” Cowles says. “To that end we’ve released a Silrated emergency stop system as part of ASView so that customers can be assured that, if all else fails, they have that as a back-up. “That’s on top of our autonomy platform providing collision avoidance through radar, AIS and so on. We tend not to use Lidar, because in the defence sector and much else of the maritime world, we feel if something’s close enough for a Lidar to detect it, you’ve let it get too close.” He adds that another major focus of the eighth-generation ASView is disaggregation of control – that is, the ability to have multiple control locations – and the construction of a sensible system for handing control from one GCS to another. That means programming logic into the solution by which no-one can forcibly take control, or give control to someone else without prior consent or confirmation. As USV developers increasingly integrate radars and cameras for obstacle detection and avoidance to augment their autonomous GNSS waypoint navigation, the ability to rapidly integrate new sensors becomes prized. On top of that, USV operators – particularly those in defence work – might want to quickly hot-swap radars in the field to suit different mission environments and objectives. To that end, some USV manufacturers (including BAE Systems with its P24 craft) are using Cambridge Pixel’s software modules and HPx radar interface cards. These can enable smooth connectivity and the integration of radars from small commercial maritime units into high-end specialist surveillance sensors, such as those fromHensoldt, Sperry Marine, Raytheon, JRC and Terma. Also, the company’s SPx Tracking Server application can enable radar-specific control panels for the GCS operator, with software displays of status information and controls for gain, sea and rain clutter, and range scale. And its SPx Camera Manager can direct gimballed cameras to point at radar, AIS or fused-sensor tracks for direct surveillance of targets. Shallows hydrography Countries such as Italy, which is dotted with coastal and riverine assets, can benefit hugely from hydrographic surveys, and although rivers naturally need a craft to be narrow and nimble to avoid running aground, the more powerful sonars and other survey sensors are often too large and heavy to make small, light USVs a realistic option. To resolve that, Codevintec has designed its CK-14 as a small USV, weighing just 15 kg when empty but also capable of carrying 40 kg of payload instruments. Heavier payloads are expected to be both possible and safe, pending further trials. “That makes it one of the lightest USVs on the market for its payload capacity, with a very big moon pool,” June/July 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology Codevintec’s CK-14 USV is designed for surveying rivers, lakes and coasts (Courtesy of Codevintec)
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