Bluefin delivers new hull inspection vehicles to US Navy
Bluefin Robotics has delivered new vehicles to the US Navy to remotely search for IEDs, limpet mines and objects of interest on ship hulls, harbour seafloors and underwater infrastructure.
The delivery of the ship hull inspection systems 4 and 5, announced by Bluefin on 20 April, form part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Hull Unmanned Underwater Vehicle Localization System (EOD HULS) Program of Record.
Each MK19 EOD HULS system consists of two vehicles and associated support equipment. Bluefin’s third-generation Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV-3) is used in the MK19 system. The HAUV-3 was developed under the Office of Naval Research and EOD Program Office, and it allows the detection of limpet mines and IEDs on ship hulls, quay walls, pilings and piers for harbour and force protection.
The delivery of systems 4 and 5 means that the navy now owns two prototypes and ten production vehicles. It is scheduled to purchase another two systems in 2015 under the EOD HULS contract, which is worth $15 million.
Jerome Vaganay, director of inspection systems, Bluefin Robotics, said: ‘The MK19 vehicle operates by hull-relative navigation and control and provides very detailed acoustic images of a ship hull with 100 percent sonar coverage, without prior knowledge about the ship.’
He added: ‘Although it looks like a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) with its six thrusters and its fibre optic data tether, the vehicle is powered by an onboard battery and operates primarily autonomously with the ability for the operator to take manual control to investigate contacts.’
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