AQS-24 sonar in new testing
Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24 mine hunting sonar has completed initial in-water testing of a next-generation Deploy and Retrieval payload, the company announced on 6 January.
During the test, the AQS-24 was operated from the Mine Countermeasures Unmanned Surface Vessel (MCM USV), demonstrating the unmanned operations needed to perform a mine hunting mission off the MCM mission package aboard the US Navy’s littoral combat ship (LCS).
The AQS-24B is a deployed system which uses side-scan sonar for real-time detection, localisation and classification of bottom and moored mines in addition to a laser line scanner for precise optical identification. Integration of the AQS-24 sonar with USVs allows for the real-time transmission of all AQS-24 data to a remote sonar operator, who can then commence real-time mission analysis of all recorded mission data.
The MCM USV tests are ahead of planned user-operated evaluation system testing of the AQS-24 on the LCS.
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