Navy asks Hydroid to build large and small unmanned submersibles in $36.3 million contract
INDIAN HEAD, Md., 19 Sept. 2013. U.S. Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts needed unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for ocean mine countermeasures, reconnaissance, and mapping. They found their solution from Hydroid Inc. in Pocasset, Mass.
Officials of the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division in Indian Head, Md., awarded a $36.3 million contract to Hydroid this week for UUVs that provide the military force with very shallow water and shallow water mine countermeasures as well as underwater object localization tools.
Hydroid will provide an unspecified number of the MK 18 UUV family of systems (FOS), which consists of the MK 18 Mod 1 Swordfish -- based on the Hydroid REMUS 100 UUV -- and the MK 18 Mod 2 Kingfish -- based on the Hydroid REMUS 600 UUV.
The REMUS 100 UUV is 5.25 feet long, weighs about 80 pounds, and is 7.5 inches in diameter. It uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts for 22 hours between rechargings, and the UUV can dive as deeply as 400 feet. The unmanned submersible is designed to travel at speeds from 3 to 5 knots.
The larger REMUS 600 is 10.7 feet long, weighs 530 pounds, and is 12.75 inches in diameter. It uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that lasts for as long as 70 hours between rechargings, and the UUV can dive as deeply as 2,000 feet, with deeper-diving versions available. This UUV is designed to travel at speeds of about 5 knots.
The Navy MK 18 Swordfish version of the REMUS 100 UUV has a dual frequency side look sonar, conductivity and temperature sensor, and navigates with an up- and down-looking acoustic Doppler current profiler, Doppler velocity log, inertial navigation unit, digital compass, and GPS receiver.
The Navy's MK 18 Kingfish version of the REMUS 600 UUV has dynamic focus side look sonar, conductivity & temperature sensor, beam attenuation meter optical sensor, pencil beam sonar for obstacle avoidance, and has navigation similar to the Swordfish.
The contract is to replace Navy MK 18 FOS UUVs that are lost or damaged beyond repair, and to provide spare, repair and replacement components to support the MK 18 FOS. Hydroid will do the work in Pocasset, Mass., and should be finished by September 2018. Hydroid is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kongsberg Maritime in Kongsberg, Norway.
For more information contact Hydroid online at www.km.kongsberg.com/hydroid, or the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division at www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/indianhead.
