Navy readies deployable unmanned underwater vehicle to rescue sunken submarine crews
WASHINGTON, 9 Nov. 2015. U.S. Navy undersea experts are closing in on deployable upgrades of a unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) that can rescue the crews of sunken submarines trapped on the ocean floor.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington announced a $12.9 million contract modification Friday to Oceaneering International Inc. in Hanover, Md., for Transfer Under Pressure (TUP) component integration efforts for the Submarine Decompression System (SDS).
The contract modification is for the final phase of the Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System (SRDRS) TUP capability hardware configuration items of the SDS. It includes program management, integrated logistics support, fabrication, systems integration, testing, and certification.
The SRDRS is a remotely operated underwater vehicle designed to deploy rapidly in response to stricken submarines that are trapped underwater. The system mounts to a sunken submarine located even at depths to 2,000 feet to rescue and provide aid to trapped submarine crews.
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After retrieving submarine crews, the SRDRS provides for the decompression of the crew to prevent decompression sickness and death caused by a rapid change in atmospheric pressure. The remotely operated undersea rescue vehicle has a set of decompression chambers integrated with its transfer-under-pressure technologies.
Navy experts are requiring the TUP capability to support treatment of rescued submariners and to prevent decompression sickness and death following a disabled submarine event, Navy officials say.
The SRDRS is designed to replace the Navy's Mystic class deep-submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV). It is based on the Royal Australian Navy Submarine rescue vehicle Remora.
On this contract modification Oceaneering will do the work in Hanover, Md., and should be finished by March 2018. For more information contact Oceaneering International online at www.oceaneering.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
